Domina Alba
by Wierdkid20
Summary: White Diamond has been leading Homeworld's fleet in it's galactic conquest for the last several thousand years. She is a figure shrouded in mystery and with good reason because she is no longer the towering gem that the empire had been created to fear. Now she is Domina. A hybrid who relishes the freedom of life away from Homeworld proper. Written over the course of 20 days on AO3.
1. I

**Hey, so this fic was originally posted without any author notes. Now though I'm updating it to fix some things to bring it inline with the other fics in the series. If you like this fic I'd love to hear from you either here in a review or a PM or on my tumblr at .com Thanks for reading!**

It wasn't often that the gem Homeworld attempted to colonize worlds with intelligent life. As White Diamond ran through the halls of the hastily constructed base, her black hair sticking out even more with her own speed, she wondered yet again if the Gem Empire needed to reconsider where they drew the line at intelligent. The beasts, 'Flail Legs' as the gems stationed there had taken to calling them, may not have been capable of discernible speech but they were certainly capable of strategizing enough to have overrun much of the eastern section of the base before any of the rest of the base had noticed.

"Fall Back!" White Diamond bellowed as she blew past a squad of Ruby's coming in from a patrol. "Fall back to the ship now! There's been a breach" The Ruby's panicked until her order reached the ears of one of the Agates who shoved them in the direction of the drop ship. The evacuation alarm was sounded and White Diamond kept running, her quarters and Pearl were at the back of the base. Behind her she could hear the sounds of battle and Agates barking orders. She rounded a corner and ran smack into a tall white and grey gem, the recoil knocking her to the floor.

"My Diamond! I'm sorry, so sorry" Milky Quartz 3NY said helping White Diamond to her feet. White Diamond rubbed her nose, checking that she hadn't broken it, again.

"It's fine I'm fine we need to get out of here." White Diamond said waving off the quartz, She looked and saw another Milky Quartz, 6GS staring at her worried.

"What happened."

"It's those Flail legs, they've broken through the walls, the eastern section is gone," White Diamond said, then looked around, usually there was a third with them. "Wheres 9ZQ?" She asked. 6GS and 3NY looked at each other then back at their diamond.

"She was in the Eastern section."

"Frack." White said. She looked behind her at the chaos then at the two quartzes. "Alright. I'm going to find her, you two get Pearl on the ship, don't let her wait for me, get her on the drop ship. 9ZQ and I will catch up."

"My Diamond, Me and 6GS will go, you really shouldn-" 3NY began.

"Don't tell me what to do Quartz." White diamond said reaching to her gem and drawing a long blue bladed sword from it. "I'm going to find my soldier, I'll catch up. That's an order." Both quartzes pursed their lips and nodded, then saluted her.

"Yes My Diamond!"

"Go!" She said before turning back and heading into the fray.

Where she had just been moments before was devoid of life either Gem or Flail Leg. She ran into the first of the creatures moments after she had passed the room where the Rubies had been. It was on the ceiling above her and flipped down in front of her face, snapping at her with three mouths moments before she ran it through with her sword. The creature fell with an shriek of pain and it's acidic blood ate through White Diamonds boots.

She jumped away from the body and saw that it was not alone, dozens of the creatures filled the hall, she could see the glint of gems on the floor, some of them in the creatures mouths. Dread shivered up White Diamonds spine. There was no way she could save them all. She glanced around as she backed away from the creatures. She saw openings, in the floors, in the creature's defenses and saw red jewels lying untouched for now. She couldn't save them all, but she would save what she could.

White Diamond let out battle cry from deep inside her as she ran forward, and leaped over the first line of the Flail Legs,. She drew another sword. She swung with long calculated swings to attack as many of the creatures as possible. She reached the clump of rubies ,dropped the sword in her left hand, grabbed them, and shoved them in the pocket of her coat hoping beyond hope that the gems would wait until they were back on the ship to reform. She bounced with one foot off the now empty space. Drew another sword and allowed herself to glide through the enemies cutting down all that reached for her.

She landed with a roll into the empty space in the Eastern section.

She gathered a Lapis' gem and an agates along with a hand full of assorted quartzes that weren't cracked too badly. Her pockets we're getting full but she still hadn't found 9ZQ. The Eastern section was unrecognizable. Tables and workstations overturned, bodies and shards covered the floor. And unlike the deafening tunnel of death she had just gone through it was quiet. White Diamond walked softly through the gore and shards, wincing as the monsters blood leaked into her shoe and she cut her feet on chunks of gems.

She poked her head into each room, scanning it for 9ZQ, poofed or un-poofed. She rounded one corner and saw the flash of a blade heading for her face. White Diamond sprung back into a defensive position and then relaxed when she saw a Milky Quartz with a slightly uneven bicep gem holding it.

"Oh," 9ZQ said with relief "it's you, sorry about that Domina." the quartz was holding another passel of gems in the crook of the arm that wasn't holding a push sword.

"Rather you than one of those things." White Diamonds said "Any others?"

"Nah just me, have the ships left yet?"

"I really hope not" she said turning to find an exit to the outside of the planet.

"Not that I'm not thankful" Milky Quartz said following her out a hole in the wall and into the desert that surrounded the base, "But you really shouldn't be doing this my diamond."

"Father always told me that all good leaders fight alongside their people, so that's what I'm going to do." White Diamond said, the ships were still there thank goodness, the last of the gems being loaded on, she started to jog towards the crowds.

"Uh huh, pretty sure your going to get yourself hurt if your not careful though" Milky Quartz asked keeping up with her easily. White diamond waved it off.

"Eh, wouldn't be the first time." She said before sliding into the ship's cargo bay. "Everyone out Mossy?" She asked, She handed the gems from her pocket to a nearby Peridot and nodded to 6GS and 3NY who were reuniting with their comrade.

"You and 9ZQ are the last ones my Diamond" Mossy Agate said, gesturing for the door to be closed.

"Good, Tell a Nephrite to get us into orbit while I figure out how to salvage this." White Diamond said already making for her quarters above the command center, a relieved looking Pearl following her.

Her quarters were set up a little bit different than the other diamonds, White had more needs than your average diamond. But the privacy from the rest of the ship was worth the walk. Pearl opened the door for her without White having to say anything which boded poorly. Usually they went through a whole charade of White Diamond opening the door for her when they were alone. Her suspicions were proved right when, as soon as the door closed Pearl let her guard drop.

"What in stars name do you think you were doing Domina!" Pearl shouted at her. White Diamond, Domina to those who bothered to use the name her father gave her, held up her hands in defense to the tiny pale pink Pearl.

"I had to do something we couldn't just leave 9ZQ behind!"

"She's a Quartz, it's her job, She's replaceable, Rubies are replaceable, Pearl's are replaceable," The Pearl said gesticulating wildly "Your White Diamond, Domina, You are not!" Domina rolled her eyes.

"Yes yes so you tell but you know it's not true. No one is replaceable." Domina said. Pearl gave her a world weary sigh.

"You know other Pearls don't have to deal with their owners being so reckless"

"Yeah but really." Domina said letting a smile creep onto her lips "Would you have it any other way?" Pink Pearl shook her head and hugged the 6'10" Diamond, her ovaluar belly gem bumping into the buttons on Domina's coat.

"Promise me you won't scare me like that again." she muttered.

"I'll do my best." Domina said squeezing Pearl gently.

"You better," She said pulling away, "I will see if I can find you another set of clothes that haven't been savaged by the local wildlife." Domina nodded.

"I'm going to clean up and take a nap. If any one important calls tell them I'm contemplating how best to recover from this momentary setback." Domina said removing her coat and handed it to Pearl.

"And if they're not important my diamond?" Pearl asked with a quirk of her lips.

"You have my full permission to tell them to go frack themselves."


	2. II

There was very little in life that a shower and an 8 hour nap couldn't fix. Domina dressed in the plain white shirt and pants that Pearl had laid out and ate one of the blue fruits left from her rations while she started giving orders to the Beyrls and Agates to pull back to one of the Empire's outposts.

"We'll try again in a few decades" She told them "In the meantime we'll get started on that planet the Rutile's said had a decent deposit of materials for corundums." After that she settled in to work through a mountain of bureaucracy from all the various other colonies.

A large portion of this was just reading through reports or signing off on deployments or projects. Unfortunately when you're the only being that has to sleep in an empire of sentient rocks even small tasks tend to stack up quickly. However thanks to Pearl's help she could breeze through the things that actually needed her attention and still have time for her favorite past time. Reading through the logs.

Domina's mother, the brilliant White Diamond, had been a chronic chronicler. Not only writing down every aspect of the colonization process but also her personal thoughts and important events that had gone on in the empire. It was a thousand times denser than the version that Yellow Diamond had given her during her lessons and a thousand times more interesting.

There was also 20,000 years worth of information so it was quite a lot to slog through but after 4,000 years she was getting close to the end. Something that was both exhilarating , to have finished that much, and terrifying, as she was no closer to understanding her mother from the writings than she had been when she started.

The last few thousand years of writings had been discussing the creation of a new diamond on a Crystal System planet. Domina didn't know much about Pink Diamond, She knew about earth of course, her father had been full of stories about earth, and She knew that Pink Diamond had somehow been destroyed in a war on the planet. Pearl had belonged to her once, and was hesitant to talk about her former owner so Domina didn't press her for information.

 _The planet does have existent Intelligent life though I am sure that it will not impede the progress of our colonization. The planet is mostly water, but contains an abundance of material seen so rarely on other planets within the same system. We may not get a chance to add another member to the diamond authority for another 12 millenia. This could almost be a second Homeworld. This could be great._

"What happened to Earth?" Domina asked aloud. Pearl jumped slightly jostling her own screen where she was ordering food and the other materials that Domina would need when they set up shop on the next planet.

"What do you mean My Diamond?" Pearl asked hesitantly.

"Is it still there? Father used to talk about it all the time." Domina said thinking back to the stories of earth hero's that her father had told her thousands of years ago.

"As far as I know yes... But there are no gems left on it."

"Why not?"

"I'm not sure it is my place to say my diamond." Pearl said quickly. White Diamond frowned, part of her said to press pearl until she cracked, metaphorically of course. The other part said that she wouldn't get anywhere with her if she did that.

"Fine I'll ask Yellow." White Diamond said reaching into her chair's port and tossing up the Diamond Communicator. She thought she heard Pearl sigh in irritation but the Gem's facial expression hadn't changed.

The panel expanded to reveal Yellow Diamonds Pearl staring down at White Diamond with her customary haughty expression that fell away the moment she saw White Diamond.

"White Diamond!" She said glancing slightly off screen, presumably at Yellow Diamond.

"Hello Pearl, is Yellow preoccupied?" White Diamond asked

"I'm here." Yellows voice came from off screen, followed by a hand picking up the communicator and turning it to face her. "I just got a report from one of your Agates that the base on 36-JK9 was destroyed. What happened?"

"Another example of why we need to re-evaluate how we classify intelligent life." White diamond said frowning slightly, she should have insisted that the reports go through her before getting sent back to Homeworld, not like she needed one more thing to do. "The Base was overrun, after we refuel at the closest out post we'll move on to 36-JK8 and begin the scouting process while we wait for the area to stabilize."

"Hm." Yellow Diamond said manipulating a screen off to the side. "You are unharmed?" White diamond allowed herself a small smile, that was the closest Yellow had been to worried about her in a century

"I'm fine, we only lost ten gems thankfully."

"Good, was that all?"

"Do I ever call just to chat?"

"Stranger things have happened."

"What happened to the Earth." White Diamond asked. Yellow Diamond stopped working and turned to stare at the younger Diamond.

"It's still there if that's what you mean."

"Well I assumed so, how far did we get with colonization before the war?"

"Far enough to realize that it wasn't worth the effort and put to other purposes, Now I'm sure you have better things to do than worry about a failed colony planet." Yellow said "Like perhaps dealing with your own." White pursed her lips.

"No need to be rude about it. I was simply asking a question. What other purpose?"

"I told you it's nothing to worry about Domina." Yellow Diamond snapped. White Diamond stiffened. "Don't ask again, the Earth is not worth your time."

"Hm. Very well then." White Diamond reached forward and closed the communicator before flinging it into a wall. The object shattered on impact and left a dent in the wall above the small table. Pearl had jumped and moved against the wall out of the way of any oncoming tantrum. Domina breathed deeply letting her rage subside, she counted to ten, then to twenty when she still felt like breaking everything in the room.

"Sorry about that." She said. Pearl nodded still visibly shaken and moved to clean up the mess. Domina shook her head, gesturing to collect the particles left by the communicator with a small breeze and deposit them in the waste receptacle. "Prepare the Styx, we'll leave as soon as I've given orders to the crew."

"Of course My Diamond." Pearl said uneasily. "Where exactly are we going?" Domina gave the gem a wry grin.

"Why Earth of course. Where else?"


	3. III

The Styx was Domina's personal craft, much more maneuverable than the monstrous flagship her mother had used, and far faster than anything but Yellow's prized experimental Sun Incinerator. Inside it was about the size of Domina's entire personal quarters, with a small bunk for her and Pearl, though the gem rarely used it, and a kitchenette.

"Everything ready Pearl?" Domina asked already starting up the engines with a smile.

"Yes my diamond." Pearl said softly. Domina hesitated and looked at the Gem, she was looking out the window at the bay of the fleet's main ship.

"Are you sure.. I mean if you don't want to come with me you don't have too." Domina said. "I can take care of myself" Pearl shook her head rapidly.

"No no, really it's fine." She said. "It's just been so long.. You should know..." Pearl began then continued when she saw Domina's pleading look. "The earth is... mostly likely still scarred from the war, the surface may not be safe."

"So what you're saying is don't get my hopes up?" Domina said carefully. Pearl made a face then shrugged and nodded.

"It may not be what you're expecting."

"Well." Domina said with a grin as she turned back to the ship's console. "That just means we get a chance to test out the Styx's cloaking device. It'll be fun!" She said.

"Yes." Pearl said flatly taking a seat next to her in the co-pilot's seat "Fun."

As much as the fleet had come to be her home over the last few millennia, Domina always relished the freedom she had when it was just her and Pearl flying through the Galaxy. They didn't get to do it much anymore. Domina had begun to take on more and more of the responsibility that had fallen to Yellow Diamond after her mother had given up her physical form.

Before that though, after the death of her father, her and Pearl had spent countless years exploring the galaxy, visiting planets inhabited by sentient races, surveying future colony planets and moons. It had been peaceful, a time of healing and a time where she struggled more openly about what she was and where her place lie in the universe. Now Domina was quiet about that kind of thing.

She couldn't contain her glee as they dropped out of FTL and Earth came into view.

"It's so blue! Look at all the water!" She said standing up from the controls so she could get a better look at the planet.

"A little more than 70 percent of the surface is." Pearl said wistfully, Domina looked back at her, grin plastered across her face.

"Where should we start, wait!" Domina hopped over the console and back into her chair "I'll turn on the cloaking device, wouldn't want to disturb the natives, humans! Actual Humans! Do you think they've changed much?" Pearl shrugged.

"Perhaps. There's an old drop ship point in Facet 12," Pearl manipulated a screen in front of the window and a red dot appeared over a land mass. "There should be an access point to the local warp system, if it's still active."

"Excellent" Domina said breathless with excitement as she brought the ship down in a dense jungle, she could see a old gem drop ship out the window as she gave oxygen and temperature a cursory check, then sprinted out the door, Pearl trailing behind her. Domina's first step onto earth was hesitant and then squishy once she eased her foot onto the softened dirt. There was a slight breeze in the air that ruffled the hem of her coat and moved her hair over her gem. The air tasted warm and wet, and above all it smelled like life, the kind of life she hadn't felt before.

There was an old warp pad sitting on the side of a hill. Domina glanced at Pearl who was staring at her with a small smile flitting upon her angular features.

"Ready to see the earth My Diamond?" She asked hopping up onto the pad. Domina whooped and jumped up next to Pearl.

"This is going to be great!"

Nearly a week later Domina found that she definitely felt different on earth.

Maybe it was some inner peace she felt in reconnecting with the origin of half her dna.

Maybe it was the fact that no one knew who she was here and asked for her actual name.

Maybe it was the fact that for the first time in almost 4000 years she was wearing something that wasn't white. Turns out humans were rather interested in the odd trinkets she had picked up on a few of her colony planets and were willing to give her money for them, meaning she could buy clothes, and a hat to hide her gem which had been garnering her strange looks.

Of course the best part about Earth was the food. Most of Domina's diet was made of genetically modified "Fruit" that provided all the necessary calories and nutrients, cultured in one of Pink Diamonds old pet projects.

Since coming to earth though Domina had tried everything from animal flesh with spicy seasoning topped with some kind of sharp lactose based solid, to a sweet cold confection made out of milk. It was all wonderful.

It was also the reason she was wandering into a human settlement near one of the oceans without Pearl. The gem rarely had any interest in eating and Domina figured she would rather have the day to herself.

Domina used a warp pad on the outskirts of town and walked for about an hour into the small town. She nodded at a few of the people and they smiled back, seeming friendly enough. One thing she had noticed about earth was that the writing system had definitely changed since her father had taught her the one that Latin used. She could recognize most of the letters but while the spoken language seemed to stick pretty closely to gem, there was no connection between spoken and writing. When she asked about the signs in other places the pronunciation hadn't even made any sense. But she could smell a food place without help of any signs.

She let her nose lead her to an area down by the shore and to a small building whose sign read _Beach CityWalk Fries_ whatever that meant. There were two younger humans talking across the counter. The one behind the counter was skinny with blonde hair that was slightly clumped together. The one on the other side was short and stocky with dark hair and wearing a red shirt with a star on it, he seemed to be the one doing most of the talking.

"I'm telling you PeeDee, Lars was so awesome he climbed up three holes to reach rho-"

"Hold on Steven." The other boy, PeeDee presumably, said. "Can I take your order ma'am."

"Surprise me." Domina said to PeeDee, not even bothering to look at the menu above the counter. The boy stared at her with wide eyes.

"Are you sure ma'am?"

"Absolutely sure." PeeDee nodded with a sudden serious expression.

"Then wait here just a minute or so." He shrunk several inches as he climbed off a stool behind the counter. "Steven don't scare her off!"

"Ok PeeDee!" Steven said then turned to look at Domina. Domina looked down at the boy, she had become relatively familiar with human children over the past few weeks, they were kind of like newly emerged Rubies in that they never stopped asking questions. A trait that Domina admired and remembered had annoyed Yellow to no end when she was a child.

"Hello." Domina said nodding to Steven.

"Hi! I'm Steven" Steven stuck out his hand in a gesture Domina had seen to mean the beginning of a 'handshake' She took Stevens hand and shook it.

"Domina, nice to meet you."

"So did you move to Beach City? Where are you from?" He asked.

"I'm just visiting,from out of town,really far away." Domina said

"So it's your first time here, Have you been to funland yet? Or to Fish stew pizza?"

"No no, I just got into town. You must be local." Domina said, he at least was certainly more local that her.

"Yeah I've lived here all my life with my dad and the g-"

"Order up!" PeeDee interrupted setting a red and white basket on the counter. Domina inspected it, it seemed to consist of some kind of fried pale yellow sticks with that lactose based solid called 'cheese' on top, there was also some kind of brown crumbly thing on top and slices of a green plant that Domina recognized as a jalapeno.

"Looks excellent." Domina said digging out the paper that passed for currency on this world she laid one marked 10 on the counter. Peedee took it and returned a handful of paper and metal disks to her.

"Enjoy!" He said Domina nodded and began to walk towards some seats by the beach "Oh and here are your hashbrowns Steven!"

"Thanks PeeDee!" She heard Steven say, then there were footsteps next to her. Domina looked at the boy quizzically and he grinned at her still talking about the town. Domina sat next to him on the bench overlooking the ocean.

"I can't believe there's this much water here." She said during a brief lull in Steven's conversation. The fries, as steven informed her they were called, were delicious, made even better by the cheese and 'bacon'.

"You've never seen the ocean before?" Steven asked. Domina shook her head.

"I've been travelling inland for the most part." She said.

"Wow, where have you been?"

"Oh all over, it's just my first trip here. I've spent most of my life travelling."

"Wow." Steven said.

"Yup, what about you?"

"Oh I go all kinds of places with the g-" There was a song that started playing. Domina watched Steven take a communication device out of his pocket hurriedly. "Sorry" He mumbled to Domina.

"Hey Connie" He spoke hesitantly. Domina finished her food and threw the trash away in a bin while Steven talked, he seemed like a nice kid, though something, and she didn't know what, felt off. "I've gotta go Domina." Steven said when she got back to the bench. "It was nice talking to you."

"Nice talking to you too Steven" Domina took her seat back on the bench while Steven got up and headed down the beach and behind a cliff. She stayed on the bench for a while, listening to the sounds of the ocean, watching the white birds fly, picking up the odd discarded shell and wondering if her brain had deceived her into hearing the sound of a warp pad activating.


	4. IV

She didn't return to the ship until late that evening. Pearl had the ship door open and was sitting on the edge of the door engrossed in something on a screen, there was the sound of Homeworld music playing from the ship's main computer. Domina smiled and swayed slightly in an imitation of a dance she had seen Pearl doing many times before. Pearl heard her footsteps and looked up before blushing slightly and shaking her head.

"I should not have let you copy me so much when you were a child." Pearl said going back to her screen.

"Maybe you should have more, I'm nowhere near as good as it as you are." Domina said pseudo-gracefully collapsing to sit on her legs next to Pearl.

"That's a good thing. You're a Diamond. You shouldn't dance like a Pearl." Pearl glanced at Domina's legs "Or sit like one." Domina pursed her lips and changed her position.

"I know." She leaned on Pearl, gently resting her head on the gems shoulder. "I tried fries today, it's form of tuber cut into strips and boiled in oil. How do humans even come up with this stuff?"

"I don't know my diamond. " Peal said, she turned off her screen and let Domina's head slide into her lap where she removed her hat and gently started to undo the tangles in her hair.

"Was it like this when you were here before?"

"No...It was busier, last time I was here we were trying to build a colony after all."

"Right." Domina said sitting up abruptly, Pearl sighed and carefully untangled her long fingers as Domina left to go get her visor. "What were the original colony plans?" Domina gestured to bring up the database and began typing in the Earth's information "Are they in the colony database somewhere I just want to look, I know my mother had a hand in designing it but that kind of thing doesn't usually make it into the log-" a screen came up when she attempted to open the Earth's file.

 _Access Denied Security Clearance Insufficient._

"What." Domina stared at the screen blankly.

"My diamond, maybe you should rest for the night," Pearl said standing up.

"Why is this locked?" White Diamond asked her voice going cold, a stiff breeze was starting to blow through the forest "I should have clearance for everything." Pearl hesitated and looked away.

"You... don't know a lot about Earth."

"Well obviously." White Diamond snapped. "That doesn't answer the question though," Pearl flinched

"Yellow Diamond has thought that it's best that you don't know about what happened here."

"What?!" White Diamond gestured angrily. "That's ridiculous! Why would she do that?"

"I don't know Domina!" Pearl shouted back desperately. Both of them froze. Domina sighed and let the anger fall out of her body as her hands dropped.

"Sorry." She said. "It's just..." Domina clenched her hands. "I'm supposed to be a diamond, how do I act like one when she just keeps treating me like a child. She wouldn't have done this to my mother." Domina buried her fists into her face to hold back frustrated tears. She felt Pearl's arms wrap around her.

"Domina. You're doing fine," Pearl said brushing Domina's hair away from her gem."It's a disservice to you to compare you to your mother." Domina buried farther into Pearl, then, once her breathing slowed she hugged back and let go.

"Thanks Pearl."

Domina spent most of the next morning working on what she had been neglecting while she had been out exploring the Earth. Thankfully, Pearl had pared down quite a bit of it. They didn't talk about their outbursts from the night before. Domina resolved to either confront Yellow Diamond about the locked file once they were off planet or deal with it herself. Finally she decided that it was time to get out of the ship for a bit.

"I'm going to go check out the galaxy warp and see why it doesn't work, You want to come with me?" Domina pulled on her hat, not that she was expecting to see any humans.

"If it's all the same to you my Diamond I'd rather no-" there was the sound of the warp pad outside activating. They both stared at each other as they heard voices from outside coming this way.

"Yo Steven wait up!" a voice said, an Amethyst maybe. And Steven? Domina shook her head it couldn't be the same Steven.

"Sorry Amethyst I'm just really excited to see the centipeetles, I hope they're doing alrig-woah." Steven said, definitely the same Steven. Domina hesitated. They were right outside, on the side of the ship opposite the door. And what was Steven doing with an Amethyst.

"I thought there weren't supposed to be anymore gems on this planet" Domina said in a hushed voice. The voices outside had receded, there was some rustling in the foliage.

"There's not supposed to be." Pearl said frantically "Where would they have even come from?"

"I don't know," Domina heard the sound of weapons being summoned outside and knew they only had a few moments to make their move. She summoned her sword "I'm going to go out to see who sent them, wait here, be ready to take off at a moment's notice."

Domina opened the door and leapt up onto the top of the ship. There was no one in the immediate vicinity.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Domina called into the forest looking around. To her left she heard rustling and hushed voices.

"No Steven don't!" Domina turned towards the sound and saw Steven walking out of the brush.

"Domina? What are you doing here?" He asked

"Steven? I could ask you the same. Where are the others that were with you?" Domina leaped down to stand in front of Steven.

Before she even landed a very colorful Pearl appeared in front of Steven holding the most ridiculous spear Domina had ever seen. Flanking the boy on either side was a severely overcooked Amethyst and a tall gem that Domina didn't really recognize but vaguely looked like some kind of Garnet.

"Ah There you are." Domina said drawing herself up to her full height. She didn't dismiss her sword yet as she still had no idea who these gems were and more importantly what they were doing with Steven. She addressed the Garnet "Who sent you?"

"No one. Who are you and what are you doing on this planet!" the Pearl said. White Diamond raised an eyebrow and was about to say something before her Pearl dashed out of the ship and over to the group.

"White?" Pearl said. The other Pearls eyes went wide and her spear dipped from it's position.

"Pink?" She said. Then she stiffened and turned to look at Domina "Who a-" Domina yanked off her hat.

"I am White Diamond and I want someone to tell me what the frack is going on right now."


	5. V

Domina's proclamation stunned the party into silence, until Steven stepped forward from behind the Pearl. He looked up at Domina starry eyed.

"You're half gem." He said voice awestruck. Domina shifted uncomfortably and glanced around the group, the looks on the others faces raised from stoic to terrified. She looked back at Steven.

"I am, what does it matter to you?" She asked. Steven lifted his shirt slightly in response, embedded in his stomach was a pink quartz gem with a pentagonal cut. Domina gasped then she quickly broke into a wide smile.

"Oh my star's you're like me!" Domina's voice cracked ever so slightly as she kneeled to Stevens level, and then the words were coming out as fast as she could speak them "Wait so you're a quartz? Can you summon a weapon? How old are you, do you age irregularly as well? What about shapeshifting? How does gravity affect you? Do you have all the quartz abilities? Wait, can you spin dash?"

"How..." She heard the other Pearl said softly.

"I mean probably the same way we got Steven." Amethyst said.

"White Diamond state your buisness here." The Garnet said cutting Domina off mid question. She froze and pursed her lips, standing back up and dusting off her pants.

"I could ask you three to do the same thing, I was told there were no gems left on this planet." She said.

"You were misinformed." The Pearl said flatly.

"Wait I thought diamonds were supposed to be like super tall." The amethyst drawled, she was the only one who had unsummoned her weapon.

"Yeah well so are Amethysts." Domina retorted.

"Don't have to be tall to kick your butt" The Amethyst drew her whip back out from her chest.

"Bring it pebble." Domina hefted her sword.

"Hey hey, Guys, don't fight!" Steven moved in between them holding his arms out. "Can't we just

talk?" He asked. Domina and the Amethyst stared at eachother for a moment then Domina sighed and dismissed her sword, She looked at the rest of the gems.

"The rest of you unsummon, I'm not going to fight you." She said. After a moment the Garnet's gauntlets disappeared along with the whip and the spear from the Amethyst and Pearl respectively.

"How are you five still here." her Pearl asked. Domina blinked slightly as she double checked her count again, there were only three gems and Steven in front of them.

"Rose Quartz, myself and Garnet survived the Diamonds final attack at the end of the war. Amethyst emerged 500 years after the blast." the Other Pearl said, she was pacing, gesturing as she talked, very different than the other pearls Domina knew.

"Who do you belong to?" Domina asked leaning against the hull of the ship. The Pearl paused and gave her a ferocious look that Domina had only seen on quartzes mid battle.

"Nobody." She said darkly. Domina cocked an eyebrow, she swore she saw the hint of a smile on her Pearls face.

"Pearl come on..." Steven said pulling the Pearl back by the hem of her tunic "Can't we just get along, I talked with Domina for like an hour yesterday, she's really nice."

"Steven you don't understand she's a Diamond who knows what she's planning on doing here!" The Pearl said stepping out of his grasp.

"It's not any of your buisness what my plans are." Domina said.

"Yes it is." The Garnet said stepping forward, she could look at Domina eye to visor. "We are the Crystal Gems it is our job to protect the Earth. Now. State what your plans are here." Domina frowned slightly in confusion, then turned to look at Pearl.

"Crystal Gems?" She asked. Pearl's eyes drifted to the group, then hesitantly back to Domina.

"The opposing side in the war for earth." She said. Domina pursed her lips and sighed counting to ten once again, more things she should have been told about.

"No plan, I'm just here to look," She said. "Now, where's the other one. Pearl said there was five of you." There was silence for a few seconds, everyone was looking at the Garnet until the Gem in question held her hands out. Domina jumped slightly in surprise. Garnet had two gems, one on each hand. The one on the left hand was definitely a Ruby cut, the other looked to be a Sapphire maybe. Both of them however were a deep purple as opposed the colors they were meant to be. "You're a heterogeneous fusion? How is that even possible?"

"Love." Steven said. Domina snorted.

"Alright pretty sure that's illegal but fine, not on Homeworld, not important right now." She said waving it off, she ducked around the fusion back to Steven. "How old are you?" She asked him crouching down again to his level.

"Oh uh." The boy reddened slightly "14, I haven't really aged up to that yet."

"Ah, don't worry about it I looked like I was 14 until... Well until I was almost twenty." Domina said shaking her head. "It partially has to do with your state of mind, the gem half of our dna messes with all kinds of biological normalities in humans."

"Oh well that's ok I guess," Steven said. The other gems had moved closer now, still on edge but they at least seemed to have realized that Domina was not a threat. "How old are you?" he asked.

"Four thousand six hundred and thirty..." She said trailing off as she furrowed her brow in thought.

"Two." Pearl supplied.

"Woah.." Steven said. Domina chuckled

"Yeah as long as you don't accidently age yourself to death you'll be fine." She said.

"Yeah that almost happened once I got better." Steven shrugged "So like were you raised on Homeworld or in the zoo?"

"Neither," Domina said "I've never actually been to the zoo, that's more Blue's domain than mine. Pearl and my dad raised me on the fleet until Yellow Diamond decided I needed to learn how to be a diamond." She said "Since then I haven't gone back to Homeworld unless I have to."

"Dude, interacting with Yellow D in any way sounds like it would suck." Amethyst had come over to then, slouching lazily and leaning on Steven.

"Oh it does, especially when she forgets I have to sleep." Domina said with a smirk. Amethyst smiled crookedly back. Domina had always appreciated most quartzes irreverence.

"Huh a fleet, so you've been to other planets?"Steven said.

"I have. Quite a few. What about you?"

"I was on Homeworld" Steven shifted uncomfortably. "For a bit, and we've been to the zoo too."

"Ah well, you want to go anywhere just ask" Domina said gently touching Stevens shoulder

"there's thousands of planets out there, some gem occupied some not."

"And the ones that are are dead." The other Pearl said flatly. Domina stiffened and stood up to turn to the her.

"That's no longer the empires modus operandi." She said "Blue and Yellow aren't thrilled about it but that was what my mother instituted."

"Your mother never cared the slightest for any kind of organic life in the millennia that she spent stripping habitable planets of their life." the Pearl said.

"And what do you know about my mother?" Domina spat walking towards the Pearl only to be stopped by her own Pearl standing between them.

"White. You need to get it through that gem of yours that this is not the White Diamond you knew." She said.

"I knew her for far longer than you did Pink." the other Pearl said lowly. "I don't know why she doesn't seem to know anything about the Rebellion but that doesn't change the fact that she is still a Diamond. She's still responsible for thousands of lives lost!"

"And how is that so much different than you and the rest of the 'Crystal Gems'?" Pearl was yelling now, the two were only feet away from each other and even Steven looked like he didn't want to get involved. Domina stood at the ready incase she needed to step in.

"We were protecting the earth! From her and the rest of the Authority!"

"And what about me?!" Pink said "You and your precious Rose Quartz" She gestured at Steven "shattered my Diamond and left me with the one that you ran away from!"

"We did not! And that's Steven." The other Pearl snapped. "He has nothing to do with this." Pearl pointed back at the other hybrid.

"And that's Domina. Neither does she."


	6. VI

As the tension began to die, Domina opened her mouth to begin asking one of her many many many questions when a sound echoed from the ship that chilled her to the core.

"Shards." Domina cursed sprinting to the door of the ship as the Diamond Line continued to chime.

She skidded into the main part of the ship, pulled the crystal octohedron out of the console, made sure her back was to a wall instead of the window and as the diamond line split into a Yellow screen, frantically smoothed her hair back from where the hat had disturbed it. Yellow Diamond appeared on screen, though her attention was focused on another one of the plethora of workstations surrounding her. White Diamond raised an eyebrow.

"Yes what is it?"

"Really, your Pearl should be answering Domina" Yellow Diamond drawled

"She's busy, I'm more than capable of answering the Diamond line myself."

"Hm, yes, Where are you?" Yellow turned to look directly at the other Diamond.

"Checking in on things." White Diamond said with a shrug.

"What sort of things?" Yellow Diamond raised her eyebrow.

"Nothing that's any of your buisness." White diamond could see the group of gems and Steven clustering at the door. "What's going on?"

"We need to talk, You Blue and I. On Homeworld, how quickly can you get there?" Yellow Diamond said. White diamond pursed her lips, doing the calculations quickly in her head.

"Roughly 2 hours."

"Excellent, I will fill you in when you get here. There's somethings you need to know." Yellow said with a small smile and a nod

"I'm sure." White diamond worked hard not to let the anger from yesterday flicker to her face.

"Oh and on your way from the Crystal system if you happen to come across the Sun Incinerator know that the Emerald that was in charge of it doesn't seem to realize that I know that it's been stolen. " Yellow Diamond turned back to her screens. White Diamond tried to keep the embarrassment from showing on her face.

"If I'm in the area I'll take care of it."

"I'm sure, Don't waste time White." Yellow said. The screen collapsed and Domina caught the communicator in one hand with a sigh and looked at Pearl.

"Well that's the end of this then," Domina said.

"Uh... should we worry that YD knows you're bumming around on Earth?" Amethyst asked. Domina snorted.

"No, though I'm sure I'm going to hear about it when we get to Homeworld." Pearl had already moved through the clump of people and was going through a preflight check. The Other pearl looked around the ship for a moment hesitantly before following her to talk with her in a voice low enough that Domina couldn't hear.

"Will you come back?" Steven asked. Domina smiled.

"Maybe not right away but yes of course. We have a lot to talk about Steven." Domina said.

"Awesome!" Steven tackled her with a hug throwing Domina slightly off balance. She blinked and patted the boy awkwardly.

"Yeah so uh.. See you later I guess." She said, then looked at the Fusion who gently pulled Steven away.

"You will keep this quiet." Garnet said, not so much in the tone of a threat as a promise. White Diamond nodded.

"There's no reason for me to say anything."

"Good."

The Pearl, her mother's former Pearl, stepped off the ship without so much as a glance at Domina. Pearl turned in her seat.

"We're ready to take off My Diamond." Pearl said. Domina nodded and waved to the group that was now standing outside. Steven waved back enthusiastically as Domina closed the door.

They exited the atmosphere moments later.

"You should get ready." Pearl said setting up the autopilot and activating the gravity engine. Domina braced herself against the initial bump in inertia and nodded.

"Yes, yes..Pearl can I ask-"

"Later." Pearl said. "I promise we will talk about this. But not now." Domina frowned but nodded and headed back into the more liveable part of a ship.

By the time she stepped out of the ships shower she no longer smelled like the earth. Her more formal clothes were on the table outside. A white jumpsuit, white boots, white gloves and a high collared white cape that's underside shone iridescently. Enough white to make her eyes hurt, like it was trying to burn out the memory of the colors earth had offered. When she was done she flipped on her visor and moved into the main cabin. Pearl was waiting for her and Domina sat without a word in the chair so that Pearl could do her hair.

If anything the call from Yellow had made her more determined to find out what was hidden in the Earth file. Even amongst the other databases Domina could find nothing about the war, about the rebellion, it was like every mention of the event that ignited era 2 had been scrubbed.

While Pearls delicate fingers worked through the tangles, forming her hair into something that looked less "Aimless Drifter" and more "Diamond" Domina began checking her account privileges. She didn't often even deal with this side of gem technology, taking it for granted that things were being handled properly. At first glance everything was usual, Her clearance level was unchanged. Domina frowned and after a moment of fumbling around opened up the admin panel.

There she saw that there were a couple of changes to her account. Her security clearance was now set at a 9.5 as opposed to the 10 it had been. There was also a mask overtop of it, showing the clearance page as unchanged. Domina frowned and attempted to revert her clearance only to get an error message. White Diamond growled.

"Hold still please Domina." Pearl said softly giving no indication that she was reading over her shoulder.

"Sorry." Domina muttered, She had one other option, attempt to brute force the program, that however would alert whoever had changed her clearance in the first place. But, seeing as she was almost certainly in for a lecture from Yellow already what more harm could it do? She ran the program through a hard reset. This time her clearance reverted with no error message, she hesitantly exited the admin console and attempted to access the Earth data.

Success.

Domina smirked and quickly began the process of having the entire section of the database transferred to an external drive. She had no illusions that her account wouldn't revert the moment that Yellow Diamond realized what she had done.

Pearl stepped away from her hair.

"Finished, You do realize that will take several hours to download."

"Yes I know. Hopefully by the time we're done at the citadel it'll be done." Domina said. Pearl hummed and went back to the control. Domina felt unnaturally stiff in the outfit, thankfully they would be docking at Homeworld shortly. She focused on attempting to calm her nerves. She hadn't been on Homeworld in two thousand years. She hated it. Everytime she was there she felt as cold and lifeless as the planet.

It didn't help any that being on Homeworld meant spending at least 1 sleep cycle on her mother's flagship, she didn't relish the idea of that at all. She felt a small jolt as the gravity engine switched off and the ship began its final descent to Homeworld. Domina stood,and let her shoulders fall back, clasping her hands behind her back. Her face went blank as she took all of her anger and confusion and questions and buried them as far down as they could go.

It was not the time for those. There would be time later. Pearl promised.

The ship docked and the door opened and White Diamond strolled off the ship, her pearl trailing behind her.


	7. VII

Several Amethyst saluted the moment White Diamond stepped out of the ship.

She didn't acknowledge them, just continued straight ahead to the nearest local warp. Pearl followed at a distance and warped them away the moment she stepped onto the pad. As they floated through the stream Domina reached over and squeezed Pearls arm. Pearl patted her hand gently.

"It'll be fine my diamond" She said softly.

White Diamond pulled her hand away as soon as her feet landed on the receiving warp pad. Citrines guarded this wing of the Diamond Authorities citadel and they did not break their gaze as she walked past them towards the meeting room. Yellow and Blue Pearl were already standing outside and they bowed to White Diamond who ignored them while Pearl opened the door. White Diamond nodded to her before taking flight with a short leap into the air.

"Glad you could join us White." Yellow Diamond was standing towards the center of the room next to Blue Diamond. Blue Diamond inclined her head towards White who returned the gesture.

"I told you two hours." White said allowing herself to settle at roughly eye level with the other diamonds.

"Yes yes you did, how was the Earth?" Yellow asked. White Diamond frowned.

"Did you honestly call me here from 10 light years to passive aggressively scold me over a brief sightseeing trip?" She asked.

"No,no" Yellow said dismissively. "There are things you should know about that planet, important things." She said, before beginning to speak directly to the other diamond.

A black glob of horror built in Domina's stomach as she listened to Yellow tell about what resulted from the war for Earth, about the final attack, about the shattering of Pink diamond at the hands of Rose Quartz, and about the Cluster. It was taking every ounce of concentration to hold herself in the air, but all she kept seeing in her head was her mother's Pearl vehemently saying that they had not shattered Pearl's Diamond.

"You authorized a project to forcibly fuse thousands of gem shards and implant them inside a planet to get a geo-weapon?" White Diamond said, Not sure whether she should feel horrified, angered or sickened. "Did you have any guarantee you could control this thing in the first place!?"

Yellow Diamond frowned, Blue Diamond hadn't looked particularly happy throughout this whole conversation, though she hadn't said anything.

"There were protocols and plans in place. However it has become apparent that something has gone wrong, the Cluster will not be emerging."

"So the earth will not be destroyed." Blue diamond said.

"No, but it does mean we have to decide how to deal with the Earth,"

"Deal with it?" White Diamond asked "Why should we do anything with it? It poses no threat." Blue Diamond nodded and gestured to White in agreement.

"There is still a massive amount of gem technology left on that planet, a functional warp system among other things, and we do have some evidence that perhaps..." Yellow looked pointedly at Blue "There is a possibility that there is still gem activity left on that planet."

"You mean it's possible some of the rebels survived?" White diamond said, Domina worked hard to keep both her emotions and positioning steady.

"A small chance, though, even if they were still there they would not be a threat, Yellow." Blue said. "Certainly not worth destroying the entire planet over."

"That's surprising coming from you considering how adamant you've been about bringing Pink's killer to justice."

"Yes." Blue said with a meaningful glance. Yellow looked away. White frowned, more questions filtering to the back of her mind.

"No matter what it simply doesn't make sense-"

"You should not allow any feelings you have for this planet cloud your judgement Domina." Yellow interrupted her. White Diamond frowned and drew herself up a little bit more.

"I'm not. That planet is the single cause of the biggest change in how the empire deals with colonies in our history. And we simply don't have the resource available to frivolously waste on a planet that has already proved to be more trouble than it's worth," She said, she was circling slightly between the two diamond. "Really you two are living in the past, we need to move forward."

"Living in the Past!" Yellow Diamond snapped, White diamond moved back from her. "Please your one to talk, constantly going off to grieve a human!"

"He was my father!" Domina shouted back. Yellow Diamond shook her head.

"Honestly I don't know why I bothered to bring you in for this. You don't care, the countless things that planet has ruined, or about Pink. You never even knew her!"

"No I didn't. Maybe that for best because I seem to be the only one that can do my job right now!" White Diamond sneered, winds were whipping around her.

"Do your job!?" Yellow Roared. "You can't do a tenth of what your mother could! You're nothing but a pale organic imitation and you will never even begin to stand in the shadow of her!"

"Yellow!" Blue snapped. Domina fell in shock then caught herself about 10 feet off the ground.

"Fine." White Diamond said after a moment of collecting herself. She rose back up to eye level.

"Do what you want." She said. The doors to the meeting room flew open with a flick of her wrist and White diamond flew out of the room, Blue Diamond shouting after her.

"White wait!"

"Pearl we're leaving!" White Diamond shouted as she landed just outside the doors. The Pearls were looking with alarm at the door, but White Diamonds Pearl quickly snapped out of it moving quickly to follow her charge who was practically running down the corridor. They could hear the sounds of the other two diamond's arguing in the background.

"What happened?" Pearl asked softly, ignoring the stares they were garnering from the guards in the hallways.

"Nothing." White Diamond snapped. "Nothing for you to worry about" She walked faster then growled in frustration. She couldn't move fast enough.

"And that's why the door exploded open and the other two are arguing behind us?" Pearl snapped back. White Diamond saw a balcony leading out to look over Homeworld and decided enough was enough. She veered off course. "Domina what are you doing?" Pearl asked moments before White Diamond grabbed her around the waist and took off into the sky .Pearls shriek trailed behind them as she made a beeline for her mother's ship.

Below Homeworld was buzzing in an orderly fashion, lights and lines lighting up and darkening in synch. With a gesture, White Diamonds head ship opened in the 'Chest' and Domina landed gracefully on the platform that extended. Pearl was clinging to her arm hard enough to bruise but Domina couldn't care. Her emotions finally beginning to let loose. She let out a roar of irritation causing Pearl to jump away, only for her to wrap Domina in her arms as she dissolved into sobs and fell to the alabaster floor inside.


	8. VIII

"What was she like?" Domina asked.

It was a few hours after her break down and she had taken refuge in a unused storage closet on the ship. The whole of White Diamonds head ship always made Domina incredibly uncomfortable, and a majority of her time on homeworld was always spent living in the various small rooms scattered throughout the ship. She had shed the cape and was now leaning against Pearl with her arms around the gem. She felt utterly exhausted but her mind was still spinning.

"What was who like my Diamond?" Pearl asked, she was working on something that Domina wasn't paying attention to, filtering reports probably.

"Pink Diamond." Pearl stiffened slightly.

"It is later I suppose," She said evenly.

"It is," Domina released her hold on the gem and wrapped her arms around her legs "You don't have to talk about if you don't want, I'm nearly at that part in moms logs and that file should be done downloading in a another hour or so."

"No it's fine." Pearl smoothed her tunic and crossed her legs instead of sitting on them. "Pink Diamond was...new. At first she was a lot like you actually, constantly fascinated by the world she had emerged from and by the worlds that your mother took her to see." She looked at Domina hesitantly, then continued as she saw the rapt attention that the Diamond was listening to her with. "As she took control of the earth though she became more capricious, more interested in her own amusement than the management of her colony. She was fickle, and refused to cooperate with either the rebels or the rest of the authority in their attempts to restore order." Domina nodded with a frown.

"Do.. Do you miss her?"

"No." Pearl said flatly. Domina blinked.

"Alright then," she said. "So.. what really happened then? Yellow said that she was shattered by Rose Quartz but, the other pearl, she seemed very insistent that that's not what happened."

"You don't think she was lying?" Pearl asked with an amused expression.

"I mean, what reason would she have to? You two were really upset at each other."

"White and I have rarely ever seen eye to eye on anything." Pearl waved away the comment. "I do not know. Your mother..." She paused for a moment "Your mother restored order after the fact but, the method in which she did has..muddled the exact nature of what happened that day."

"What do you mean?" Domina asked, She knew a lot about what her mother had been capable of but there were still some of her powers that had not yet manifested even after all these years.

"I don't-" There was an alarm on Pearls screen she frowned and turned her attention to it, then almost immediately all color drained from her face. "Blue Diamond is here."

Domina didn't bother to change. She just headed for what had been her mother's personal room within the ship and instructed Pearl to have Blue Diamond meet her there.

Her mother's room was windowless, the walls instead covered with engravings of star charts. A proper diamond sized chair floated in the corner and an old computer terminal sat next to it with volumes of files and notes sitting on top of it. White Diamond stood in the middle of the room trying to hold it together when Blue Diamond entered alone. White had been prepared to kick up to the air to address the monarch face to face, despite her exhaustion.

Domina though was surprised to see Blue diamond enter at a size only the slightest bit taller than her own.

"I thought perhaps it was about time that we talked without Yellow's input." She said. Domina blinked and closed her mouth to prevent looking completely taken aback.

"I uh.. Well I suppose it must be, it's only been Four thousand years." Domina said, her posture had not changed. The Diamond's presence alone made the temperature in the room drop several degrees.

"Yes and I do apologize for that White, I... have not been as present in your life as I ought to have been perhaps. But I cannot change that now." Blue Diamond said. Domina nodded.

"I don't fault you for that. I know what it's like to lose someone." Domina said she could feel the grief radiating from Blue Diamond as she saw blue light leak from the other gems form. Domina wiped her face to prevent yet another round of tears and Blue Diamond reigned it in.

"Yes, well you also deserve to know what has spurred Yellows sudden insistence on dealing with the Earth." Blue Diamond said. "Several months ago Yellow and I sent a team consisting of two Topaz's and an Aquamarine in an effort to procure more humans for Pink's zoo." She paused briefly to check Domina's reaction then continued. "They returned with the Rose Quartz that at the time we believed was responsible for shattering Pink."

"You don't anymore?" Domina asked

"No. there were.. certain factors brought to our attention by the defending Zircon." Blue Diamond said. "Yellow was less than pleased with the reveal and in her...outburst Rose Quartz managed to escape."

' _Steven was on Homeworld 'for a bit''_ Domina thought. "You haven't seen any sign of...them?" she asked.

"No Yellow doesn't believe she's on planet anymore, you should know though that.. She was.. Different." Blue Diamond.

"How so?"

"Organic. I believe that what was brought before us was not 'Rose Quartz' so to speak but her hybrid offspring instead." Domina tried to look shocked, she really did, but all the reveal left was a sinking feeling inside of her that Steven needed to be warned.

"I... Thank you." Domina said. Blue Diamond nodded.

"I'm looking for answers of what happened to Pink. I know that your mother may have left some. So. if you come across any,"Blue diamond trailed off. Domina nodded the sinking feeling growing, she had spent much of her life wary of both diamonds, and now she felt validated, she would not envy anyone who got in Blue Diamond's way.

"I will let you know." White Diamond said.

"Excellent." blue Diamond said with a small smile. Domina took a few steps back as Blue Diamond was engulfed in light and reverted back to her normal height. "I hope you will keep in touch when you go back out into the colonies White. We really ought to get to know eachother better." Domina kicked into the air and nodded, folding her hands behind her back.

"I will do my best."

"Come along Pearl." Blue Diamond said as she exited the room. Pearl and Domina stared at the retreating pair then at each other once they were out of sight.

"That was... something." Domina said. Pearl nodded.

"I'm going to go make your bed up. You should rest my Diamond."

"I won't argue with you there" Domina said turning to look back at her mother's room, the planets staring at her like eyes, as if asking if she was really the Diamond that ruled them. Domina shook her head and shut the door, to make her way back to the storage room


	9. IX

Domina's favorite planet actually wasn't Earth, though being there had been one of her favorite experiences.

No, her favorite planet was 19-H25. A roughly earth sized planet that she had spent most of her childhood either on or orbiting. She smiled as she looked around the reddish landscape. There were pockets of grey tinged rock where the kindergartens and shipyards had been planted. To her west there was a rocky outcropping that she knew overlooked the whole of the base. Domina began to climb. The rocks were stacked higher than she remembered and she was winded by the time she got to the top only to see nothing in the valley below.

She looked around again and realized she wasn't on the planet she was on her mother's personal ship, not the flagship, the fleet ship that the Styx normally docked in. She was in the hallways outside the room where the quartz's, and her on occasion, trained. But normally the ship was buzzing with activity, now though Domina was alone. Or so she thought.

"Hello?" came a familiar voice from down the hallway towards where the flight deck was. Domina frowned and headed in that direction, trying to figure out who was on the ship with her. She emerged not in the flight deck but in her own quarters that were actually on the opposite end of the ship. Standing just inside the open door, which was almost never left open, was Steven.

"Steven?" Domina asked she looked around the room, something was off. "Wait, I'm dreaming." She said. Steven looked uncomfortable.

"Yeah sorry I was kind of trying to see if I could talk to you, but I didn't know when everyone on Homeworld usually slept so I just kind of took a nap in the afternoon."

"Nobody really sleeps on Homeworld but me." Domina said then frowned. "Wait are you saying this is my dream and your real and just.. walking through it?"

"Yeah kind of, I still haven't really figured this power out. " He said.

"I can understand that, Could your mom do this?" Domina asked.

"I don't know. The gems don't make it seem like she could."

"It's possible it's unique to you, My mother couldn't summon a weapon but I can, I think being a hybrid messes with some gem things too."

"Huh, Well where are we?" Steven asked, he was looking around the room very carefully.

"We're on board the lead dropship in the colonization fleet, this is me and Pearls room." Domina said. "But I was on a planet before."

"Really?"

"Yup. I wonder, now that I know I'm in a dream." Domina mused, she focused on 19-H25 and slowly the ship began to fade away and they were left on the rocky landscape of the planet. Steven looked around starry eyed.

"Wow..." he said. "What is this place?"

"19-H25" domina said. "I spent most of my childhood here, we produced a lot of Beryls here, and at least enough parts for one full handship." Domina said thinking back. Stevens face turned a bit serious.

"Oh. with.. Kindergartens?" he asked.

"Yes, here, come on." Domina began heading towards the planet's Prime Kindergarten. It was empty, the ground had turned grey here, holes were organized neatly along both sides of the canyon, there were no injectors but she could see the holes where they had been placed.

"We got one or two Bixbites here, other than that it was mostly Emeralds and Morganites that came out of here. I don't think anyone that emerged here is still with the fleet though, most are actually part of Yellow or Blue's court back on Homeworld." She said turning with a smile to look at Steven who was looking more and more uncomfortable. Domina's smile faded and she pulled them back to where the rocky outcropping was, Sitting on the ground overlooking the valley.

"You know I know that's what you have to do to make more gems but it just doesn't feel right draining planets." Steven said fidgeting with his hands nervously.

"Well the planets aren't like earth, I mean, yeah occasionally we get ones that have life on them but my Mother and father really started trying a way to treat and rotate the planets so that it's more sustainable."Domina said waving his concerns off. Steven sighed and rubbed his head.

"I have sooo many questions. I mean this is a lot." he said.

"I know what you mean completely." She said. They sat in silence for a moment.

"What if we took turn asking and answering each other's questions?" Steven asked. Domina chuckled.

"Alright. How did your parent's meet?" She asked.

"Oh thats an easy one, my dad was giving a Concert in beach city and mom was the only one that showed up. He said it was like love at first sight." Steven said with a smile. "What about yours?" he asked. Domina hesitated.

"Uh after the war my Mother was trying to understand Pink Diamonds fascination with humans so.. She took my Father from the zoo and they fell in love, it took a while though, they were both very opinionated." Domina said. "What's the deal with the 'Crystal Gems'?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, they're kind of an odd collection of gems. I mean, did they raise you?"

"I mean kind of. I lived with my dad until I was old enough to start learning about gem stuff. The gems are really great though. Amethyst is fun and Pearl is really cool and really smart and Garnet is awesome."

"Is the Garnet fused all the time?" Domina asked.

"It's my turn to ask a question." Steven said with a grin. Domina sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Fine ask it."

"Um... can you shapeshift to be as big as the Diamonds?"

"I can it's just really tiring, it's a lot easier to just fly at their level. Now answer my question."

Domina said.

"Yeah Garnet's fused all the time" Steven said as if it was no big deal.

"But why?"

"Because Ruby and Sapphire love each other, They belong together. I mean even their gems make Garnet symmetrical," Steven said.

"Hm... like they've found their other half." Domina mused, Steven looked confused so she elaborated. "My father used to tell a story that long ago humans all had four arms and two heads, but they were too powerful so the big god, Zeus split them all in half and so now all humans were constantly looking for their perfect other half."

"Wow..." Steven said. He stared out into the distance. "What was your dad like?" Steven asked. Domina had been expecting this but still twitched slightly when he asked.

"He was a Quartermaster in the Roman legion back before he was captured for Pink Diamonds zoo. He taught me Math and Latin and Greek and told me stories about how leaders should be." Domina said. She could see a singular cloud rolling through the sky. "He was a good man. Very very intelligent, always was thinking of ways to improve how we did he died.." Domina felt the words falling out before she could reign them in. "I aged so fast. Pearl thought I was going to die too, and.. I might have if she hadn't been there to pull me back." all of the sudden she was being hugged.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." he said. Domina chuckled and wiped her face.

"No it's alright. My turn correct?"

They talked for hours. About his friend Connie who was mad at him for what had happened on homeworld, about her friends, the Quartzes and Nephrites that had taught her to fight and to fly ships. She asked him about the trial and he told her all about His friend lars who he had brought back from the dead and was now running around with a group of Off Color gems hidden somewhere on homeworld. Finally Domina felt everything start to go hazy.

"Oh I must be waking up," She said.

"That's ok." Steven said. "It was nice to talk to you again Domina!"

"You too Steven, Stay safe." Domina said before she felt her mind melt back into reality.

It was dark in the room where she had slept and she could feel that she had curled into Pearl in her sleep, which wasn't the first or last time that had happened. Domina was about to apologize when her eyes adjusted and she realized that the gem was also asleep.

Domina frowned as her eyes adjust and she saw images appearing on the ceiling cast from the light of Pearls gem. There she watched an image of Pearl dancing, she was there to, maybe five or six years old, trying to copy the gem's graceful motions. Domina smiled sleepily, remembering how Pearl used to get all flustered and redirect her to do something different. The image on screen showed something different though. Pearl knelt down and gently rearranged the younger Domina's arms and legs so that they better matched her own. Then they danced together, to music that she couldn't hear but in a way could almost feel from the actions that were happening on screen.

Domina's smile faded and she tore her attention from the image, noticing a flashing light coming from her visor. Domina put it on and saw the notification that her file had finished downloading. She focused, wiping the sleep from her eyes determinedly.

She had a lot of reading to do.


	10. X

_Eighty-nine kindergartens, sixty-seven spires, a Galaxy Warp in each facet-_

 _Pearl is gone, run off with that troublesome Rose Quartz of Pinks -_

 _Wanted: Ruby 1F8-4TN and Sapphire 1F2-6UO for heterogenous fusion, all information about_

 _these suspects are to be sent to-_

 _Pink's Pearl will remain with me. Something will be done about that planet, something we should have done a long time ago-_

 _There appears to be an infestation of "Stevens" in the Kindergarten.-_

 _Yellow is the only one that has come up with a purpose for the earth now, I will leave her too it-_

 _I believe we should terminate The Cluster.-_

 _I need to understand why Pink was so interested in these simple creatures-_

 _whoever did this was already close to Pink Diamond. Someone her guards would allow to get near her, someone she would listen to when asked to stop her palanquin and step outside._

There was a lot of information in both this portion of her mother's journals and the Earth file. Domina spent a majority of the trip flipping between the two, trying to match up log dates with existing information on the earth.

She watched footage from battle drones of her mother's Pearl facing a 4 Jasper fusion and winning. She read about interrogations of captured Crystal Gems and their idea that a gem could be more than a 'cog in homeworlds machine'. She read the reports of Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut- 5XG and watched her call Yellow Diamond a clod to her face, then watched it a few more times, just because. Domina saw footage from the trial and when she was finally done she didn't know what to think. Not that she had time to think anything.

From the time they set foot on the 36-JK8, White Diamond had catch up work to do. 36-JK8 was big enough and had enough resources that it would be come and actual planet for her court. Domina's second, White Diamond's 41st. That meant not only planning kindergarten locations but also evaluating the rest of the planet's resources, planning locations for spires and temples along with establishing a local warp network.

Thankfully the planet was uninhabited by all but a variety of single celled organic micro organisms.

Domina didn't run into Steven again for weeks. She had taken to sleeping whenever she had a free 2 or 3 hours in between approving plans, meeting with high level gems and eating.

When she finally did she found him sitting on a beach that looked somewhat familiar. He was playing some sort of wooden box contraption that was emitting sounds in the higher frequencies.

"Is that actually you Steven?" Domina asked stopping behind the boy. He turned around and grinned.

"Hey Domina," He said. Domina sat next to him in the sand, it felt warm. "I guess it did work, I've been experimenting with my dream powers and trying to see if I could pull people into my dreams instead of just barging into theirs."

"Well that's nice." Domina looked curiously at the box again. "What is that, is it like a lyre?"

"Uh kind of, It's a ukulele. You use it to make music." Steven demonstrated by playing a series

of notes increasing in pitch. "See?"

"I do know music Steven." Domina said with a small smile, "Homeworld music is different but I'm sure there are similarities somewhere."

"Right, so... how have you been?" Steven asked setting the ukulele down. Domina shrugged.

"Busy, we're in the process of setting up a new colony planet and I have to be more involved with this one." She said.

"Oh," Steven sounded a bit uncomfortable "That's cool I guess." Domina nodded.

"If you come to my dream next time I'll see if I can show you around, What about you?" She

asked. "How are the Crystal gems and your friend Connie?"

"They're good." Steven said "Me and Connie are talking again and Lion came back so we're going to go visit Lars and the Off Colors soon." He hesitated. "Pearl didn't seem to happy that I was talking to you but Amethyst and Garnet say hi." Domina snorted slightly.

"You can tell your Pearl that she doesn't have anything to worry about from me."

"She's not my pearl." Steven said quickly. "I know how Pearls are treated on homeworld and she doesn't belong to me. Pearl doesn't belong to anyone."

"So You've both said, and I'll agree with you." Domina said. "She is certainly her own gem."

"What about Pink Pearl?" Steven asked. Domina blinked.

"What about her?"

"Well is she happy?"

"I don't know." Domina said."Is your Pearl?"

"I...I think so." Steven said, his hand moved to cover his Gem. Domina put a hand on his shoulder, though she didn't really feel anything.

"Pearls the only Family I really have." Domina said. "I hope she's happy, and I rely on her help so much."

"So she doesn't just stand there and look nice?" Steven said looking up at her. Domina burst into laughter, almost falling back into the sand.

"No, are you kidding? Steven there are only three people in the universe that can tell me what to do. Two I almost never see and the third is Pearl. Like I said" Domina sat back up "She's indispensable."

The next day Domina finally got a chance to spar with the Quartz's, it had nearly been a month since she had gotten to practice, and she was finally caught up on enough work that she could afford to take time out of her day. There were Agates supervising meaning that Milky Quartz 9ZQ had to keep her taunts to Domina to a minimum, it was also the cause of Domina's frustration.

"Come on 9ZQ." Domina dodged the Quartz easily clanging her swords together in irritation.

"Quit pulling your hits, I can take it."

"You know Do-" The Quartz's Enhydro Agate turned towards them, and 9ZQ stumbled over her words, "My Diamond, when your Father told me that I ended up breaking his leg and got put on janitorial duty for a decade."

"Well." Domina said tripping the Quartz and leveling her swords on her chest. "I do have a few thousand years on my father." 9ZQ laughed and got to her feet when Domina pulled the sword away.

"Alright Alright." She said the Milky Quartz fell back into the ready position. "Let's go again, less talking this time pebble." Domina grinned as the Agate gave 9ZQ a warning glance and moved back into her stance. 9ZQ lunged forward and Domina raised her sword to block when she heard her name. The hit caught her off balance and sent her sliding back out of their practice area.

"Wait wait!" Domina said dismissing a sword to hold up her free hand. 9ZQ paused and Domina heard it again. "What in stars name," she muttered dismissing her other sword.

"Is someone calling your human name?" 9ZQ asked.

"That's what I heard, we'll pick this up later." She said making for the door. Pearl opened it quickly, and Domina stalked down the hall following the clamouring she could hear coming from an area towards the front of the base. Finally she came upon the source. A Group of citrines the fleet had picked up while Domina had been on earth. They had just gotten back from a patrol and were carrying two figures.

Their Condor Agate stopped Domina.

"This is all under control My Diamond, apologies for the disturbance." She said. Domina frowned and stepped around the gem to get a better look. One of the figures was a girl, a human girl from the looks of it, with a complexion that was relatively close to Domina, carrying a sword that looked like it was closer to the size fit for a Quartz than for her. The other-

"Domina! Finally, See we know each other now, let us go!" Steven said kicking at the Citrines.

"Steven?!"


	11. XI

Domina shot the two Citrines holding the children a sharp look and they dropped them quickly.

"What in the star's name are you doing here." Domina asked stepping towards them. Steven was scratched and bleeding slightly from his temple but he smiled at Domina after helping the girl to her feet.

"Eh heh, it's kind of a long story, By the way this is Connie." He said. The girl, Connie, nodded to Domina, grip tight on the sword.

"Nice to meet you ma'am."

"Yes yes good to meet you too Connie." Domina said. "What happened to you two?"

"Well we were um.. "Steven paused and looked around at the room. Domina glanced off and saw that the three organics had the full attention of everyone in the room.

"Don't you all have other things to do?" She said. There was a flurry of salutes and 'My Diamonds' before the room cleared they were left mostly alone. "Better?" She asked. Steven nodded.

"We went to visit lars and he um.. And the off colors." He hesitated again. Domina raised an eyebrow and glanced at Connie who was looking at her with suspicion.

"Ok fine, don't tell me about that, how did you get on this planet specifically."

"My Diamond! There's an incoming transmission from an orbiting ship requesting permission to land." A Peridot said. Steven and Connie stared at the peridot and Domina rolled her eyes.

"Lovely, who is it?"

"One of Yellow Diamonds Emeralds, shall I grant her permission?" Domina glanced at Steven who had gone pale.

"Put her on screen." She said. She was still hot and sweaty from sparring but at this point she was throwing protocol out the window.

"Are you sure my Diamond."

"Yes." Domina said walking over to the screen. "Pearl take them back to my quarters and let them clean up, if their hungry go ahead and feed them." She said.

"Wait Domina-" Steven said, the remainder of the gems were giving the boy an uneasy glance. Domina sighed and turned.

"What Steven?" She asked. Steven fiddled with his hands nervously like he did when they started talking about uncomfortable questions in the dreamscapes.

"It's just, Lars and the other gems are my friends." He said. Domina frowned and nodded before waving them off.

"I'll keep that in mind." The kids left the room with Pearl. And an Emerald appeared on screen.

"Are you the gem in charge of this base," She asked "This is a time sensitive mission and I need to land immediately."

"Yes Yes I'm sure, Cut and facet?" Domina asked opening her screen lazily. The Emerald sighed

"Facet 2F6T Cut 9GH, As I said this is an important mission from Yellow Diamond herself."

"Hmm." Domina grunted pulling up the Gems file. She grinned. This was just too good. "Oh, You're that Emerald that lost the Sun Incinerator." Domina said.

"What?" The Emerald asked.

"Yes I heard about this not that long ago, Stolen from Clavia-7. How did they manage to do that?"

"I... it is not relevant to this." Emerald looked flustered. "Will you give us clearance to land or do I need to involve the Diamonds directly for this?"

"Go ahead," Domina said relaxing her stance. The Emerald looked startled and moved closer to the screen.

"Is this some kind of joke to you?"

"No no, completely serious," Domina said. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Mossy Agate shaking her head with a smile. "Go ahead, though this colony is under the control of White Diamond, not Yellow."

"I... Fine, you'll regret this you pebble!" Emerald said, White Diamond smirked, as the rest of the gems in the room gasped.

"Good, I'll be happy to hear from her once she's made her decision." White Diamond said and gave the signal to cut the transmission. The screen went blank and a few moments later the diamond line began to chime from the arm of her chair. She answered it. The Emerald appeared on screen.

"White Diamond speaking." Domina said with a toothy smile.

Domina opened the door to her room. The two kids were on Domina's bed, cleaned up, wearing a few of her white shirts and eating some of the blue fruit.

"Alright so let me get this straight. Your friend Lars and these off colour gems stole an experimental ship from homeworld, were chased halfway across the galaxy before crashing somewhere on this planet."

"Yeah that's about right. But Lars was just trying to get home!" Steven said. Domina waved him off.

"I'm not mad Steven, that does make my ship the fastest now." Domina said. Pearl rolled her eyes. "Anyway. If their still on planet then we need to go find them, how far away did you two

crash from here?"

"About 5 miles ma'am." Connie said. Domina nodded

"Good we'll check in the area. "

"We'll come with you!" Connie said. Domina saw the sword again, set gently against the wall. Surely the girl could use it if she was carrying it, and it had to be hers, Steven didn't seem like the type to carry a sword.

"No you two stay here." Domina said. "I'll go with a couple of quartzes and we'll take a look around."

"Domina are you sure that's a good idea?" Pearl asked. She was putting the kid's clothes into the Clothes washer.

"I'll be fine." Domina said, she grabbed her Jacket and threw it over top.

"The last time you said that we ended up evacuating the planet."

"Good point, but the last time I was alone." Domina said before leaving the room, hearing Pearl sigh behind her.

She took a few of the new Citrines with her. She hadn't really gotten to know any of the new gems since she had returned to the fleet, and as per usual the quartzes weren't chatty unless they were without their Agates supervision.

"So where have you three been before this?" Domina said as they began walking. The Citrines, 3KR, 9LP and 4FV, looked at each other. Finally 4FV responded.

"Security on some of the inner planets closer to Homeworld my Diamond." She said. Domina nodded.

"Which ones? I've only been to a few of those." That got the other two talking. They told her about Alpha 507 where they had been part of the guard over seeing one of the experimental testing facilities. About the time everyone had relaxed the came across the pod Steven and Connie had crashed in.

"My diamond, if I may?" 9LP started.

"Hm what?" Domina said climbing a ridge to get a better vantage point.

"Those two... organics." The gem said. "They are like you are?"

"One of them is. He's half Quartz." Domina said turning around. "I think I see something that way, proceed with cau-" There were two blasts and the Citrines were replaced by a motley assortment of gems. The yellow gems dropped to the ground. A pink humanoid figure leveled a blaster at Domina.

"Where is he."


	12. XII

Domina raised her hands in surrender. She glanced around at the rest of the gems, a nervous looking fusion of a Ruby and a Pearl that vaguely resembled a Rhodonite, a Padparadscha Sapphire, a twinned pair of Rutiles and... some sort of fusion that looked like some monstrous cross between a worm and a Fluorite.

The Rutiles were both holding staves and the Rhodonite-esque fusion was holding the same kind of blaster that the Pink figure was. A sleek one usually carried by Nephrites and other types of gems that aren't usually able to summon weapons.

"Where is who?" She asked, she looked at the Citrines at her feet, there was a small crack in one of them and she pursed her lips. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too serious.

"Two kids, they.. Their organic."

"Back at Base." Domina said, she gently bent down, the group tensed and watched her gather the Citrines gems. "I presume you're the "miserable off colors" that Emerald warned me about? The ones that stole the sun incinerator?" Domina slipped the gems into her pocket keeping the cracked one separate.

"And so what if we are?" The Pink figure said.

"Lars!" the Padparadscha interjected "I'm having a vision!" Domina raised an eyebrow.

"Padparadscha this may not be the best -" Lars began. Domina swore she saw a flicker of movement behind the group but tore her eyes away when the Padparadscha made her pronouncement.

"You will find White Diamond and she will know where Steven and his friend are!" Lars frowned confused for a moment and then saw Domina's gem. The other gems gasped and looked at each other in terror. There was the sound of a blaster charging to fire and Pearl appeared behind Lars holding said blaster which was buried in his back.

"Drop your weapons!" She ordered in the second strongest voice Domina had ever heard her use. Lars yelped and dropped the blaster in surprise.

"Hi Pearl." Domina said through a face splitting grin. The remainder of the gems dropped their weapons.

"My Diamond I apologize for not believing you when you said you'd be fine," Pearl said, her initial bravado was starting to fade. She glanced nervously at the blaster that she was certainly not supposed to have.

"Oh it's fine, Really I think this is the coolest thing I've seen you do." Domina said waving it off. She turned her attention to the group of gems who were looking between the two in fear.

"Look out everybody! White Diamonds Pearl is going to threaten Lars!" The Padparadscha exclaimed. Domina blinked.

"Does your sapphire tell the future after it's already happened?" She asked. Lars nodded nervously. "Man this day just keeps getting weirder and weirder." She said shaking her head.

"D-do you know where Steven and his friend are?" The left Rutile asked.

"Padparadscha said you did." Right Rutile followed up.

"I do. I was actually out here looking for all of you. Thanks for chipping the citrine by the way." White diamond said with a frown. "I just hope we can repair her enough back at base. Follow me, and try to be civil we're about to freak out a lot of gems."

"My diamond are you sure that's wise?" Pearl asked, she had lowered the blaster now, holding it loosely at her side.

"Yeah we're not exactly normal uh.. Ma'am?" Lars said sounding uncertain.

"Well the other option is the more conventional diamond approach but I haven't had to shatter anyone in millennia and would rather keep that up for as long as possible." White diamond said flippantly. There was a beat of uncomfortable silence before padparadscha broke in yet again

"Oh my stars! One of the Citrines was damaged, she certainly won't be happy about that." She said. Domina forced herself not to laugh and shook her head,

"Come on follow me." She said. The group set off towards the base, both Lars and Pearl maneuvered their way towards the front. Domina elected to talk to Pearl first as they walked. The gem didn't actually say anything just offered her the blaster handle first. Domina gently pushed it back towards her and spoke, keeping her voice low.

"Remember when I was eight and asked you if you could summon a weapon like I could?" Pearl frowned.

"I do, but I fail to see how that applies now my Diamond."

"Well you said you couldn't because you weren't meant to be fighting and then we had this long conversation about whether I was meant for fighting or not and anyway-" Domina said shaking her head, "This has been a weird last month and, to be honest. I don't think that you not being made for fighting should keep you from having the ability to fight your own battles. So unless you learn to summon a weapon of your own keep it." Domina said. Pearl stared at her for a moment then smiled very softly and tucked the blaster back into her gem, before falling slightly behind Domina and Lars.

"So.. you're a Diamond?" The boy said, he looked her up and down, not unlike various agates who were new to the fleet had in the past. "And you're like Steven?"

"That's right." She said

"Huh, shouldn't you be taller?"

"Well if you're human why are you pink?" Domina said rolling her eyes.

"Alright alright sorry, though I'm not human, I don't think, it's complicated. Look are these guys going to be safe?" Lar's asked gesturing back at the gems.

"Are you doubting me?" White diamond asked.

"Yeah I am I just met you, Steven may trust you but Steven trusts everyone." Lars pursed his lips and ran his hand restlessly through his pink hair.

"Well you have my word, you and your crew will be safe." Domina said. They neared the base and White Diamond drew herself up to her full height then looked at the motley assortment of gems behind her. " We're not all going to fit in my quarters." She realized. "Granted it shouldn't be for very long, but..."

"There's space, the walls are modular my diamond." Pearl said opening the door.

"They are? Wait which site plan is this modelled after" Domina asked suddenly looking around.

"Your mother's 21st colony, Morganite 5HY submitted it too you three decades ago" Pearl said, the door slid open and Domina led the group into the main area of the base.

"I really wish I remembered that." Domina said shaking her head, she saw the mouths dropping open as gems noticed the ragtag group of gems.

"It's not that important my diamond." Pearl said.

"My Diamond, what.." Mossy Agate said gesturing at the assortment of gems.

"Survivors of the crash," Domina said with a shrug. Mossy Looked at the Off colors, then at Domina then at the Off Colors again then pulled the Diamond aside.

"You do realize that two of those.. creatures are heterogeneous fusions and the rutile is a defect we would only allow to pass under the most dire of circumstances," Mossy Agate said keeping her voice low. "I don't even know what the pink thing is, she looks kind of like a morganite-"

"Pearl go ahead and take them back." White Diamond said, she turned her attention back to Mossy. "He, is organic, and yes I do know, I swear I've seen more instances of heterogeneous fusion in the last month than in my entire life, anyway, they're not staying for long, just until I run them back to earth, They'll stay a day maybe two."

"My Diamond, the crew will talk."

"That's not my problem, just make sure no one bothers them and It'll be fine"

"Domina you can't seriously be saying-"

"Yes Agate." White diamond said using a tone she rarely took with the Agate. "I am serious, It won't be for long and it should not be a cause for alarm." Mossy Agate stiffened before pursing her lips, saluting and heading off into the base, presumably to spread the work. Domina sighed and rubbed her temples before turning to one of the Nephrites sitting at a desk.

"Can you remotely activate the Flagship from here?" She asked.

"The one on homeworld my diamond?" The Nephrite asked hesitantly.

"Yes, it's the only ship we have available that big enough to carry.. Well the party you just saw along with myself, Pearl and two other organics, Correct?"

"Yes my diamond, Though I'm sure you could commandeer one of the dropships that's assisting in establishing the warp network if you need to."

"No There's no need to disrupt the work there." Domina said "set the ship's autopilot to head here as fast as possible."

"Yes My Diamond."

"Excellent."


	13. XIII

Domina stepped into her quarters to see that the walls had been moved nearly doubling the amount of available space.

The gems were crowded around Steven. Pearl was standing off to the side talking with Connie. Both the kids were back in the clothes they had crashed in which by some magic looked almost brand new. The chatter from whatever conversation had been going on died the moment Domina entered the room. Everyone looked at her tensely, the rhodonite fusion awkwardly saluted with four arms, followed by the Rutiles and one set of the Florites arms. Domina sighed.

"None of you, as far as I can tell, are a part of my court so please don't." She said. "The ship should be here in a little over 4 hours, then We'll head for earth. Any questions?"

"White diamonds coming back!" Padparadscha exclaimed, Domina couldn't hold back her laugh. That broke the tension. Everyone relaxed, and Connie raised her hand.

"Uh.. yes?" Domina asked.

"What ship?" She asked "Steven told me about the one you were on earth with, and I assume that's not the one you mean." Domina frowned.

"The Flagship, it's not the fastest but considering the amount of people we need to transport and current resources we have at our disposal..." Domina waved away her remaining words. "Anyway, the thing hasn't moved in several thousand years so it'll do it some good to get it moving."

"That big head shaped thing is a ship?" Lars asked.

"Yes it is." Domina moved to take her visor out of her pocket and realized she was still holding on to the citrine gems. "Whoops," She muttered pulling them out. "Pearl take these to the

barracks and um." She stared at the cracked one uneasily.

"What happened to that one?" Steven asked, he had moved closer to get a better look.

"It hit the ground wrong." Domina said, she didn't know if plaster would fix a crack of this size, 9LP may just have to be bubbled, indefinitely, or harvested. She shuddered slightly.

"Can I see her?" Steven asked. Domina arched an eyebrow and handed the gem to the boy carefully. He inspected it for a moment then licked it, Domina reeled back.

"What the fr-" she was interrupted by a glow, and the gem was whole again, though still inert, Steven handed it to Pearl who, while sporting a confused look, left the room without a word. "So... you can heal gems." Domina said. "Are you sure you want to go back to earth?" Steven chuckled nervously.

"Uh yeah, the gems and my dad would be pretty mad if I didn't come back." Steven said. Domina sighed.

"Right right, can't just take people." She murmured, Louder she said. "Well you have four hours, I did say I would show you around Steven."

"Cool!" Steven slid off the bed, and looked at everyone else, then back at Domina.

"Anyone else is welcome to join us." She said.

"Nope! No thanks!" Rhodonite said waving her arms around.

"Yes we will be fine here." Left Rutile said.

"We will stay here it's fine." Right Rutile said.

"Yes...we... are...fine..." Fluorite drawled.

"OH my, I foresee that Steven will heal the damaged Citrine, how amazing." Padparadscha said holding her hand over her mouth

"I'll stay with my crew." Lars said, looking as nervous as the rest of the gems in the room. Connie slid off the bed and went to stand next to Steven, holding her sword across her back. Domina smiled slightly at her.

"Alright then, come along."

The small troupe garnered much fewer confused looks from the various gems on base than the group of off colors had earlier. Pearl met up with them as they were headed towards the Quartz barracks and overheard the three Citrines getting chewed out by Condor Agate.

Steven asked a ton of questions, while Connie tended to hang back and observe quietly. Finally they arrived back in the training area. There were still a mixture of Quartzes in there, though the area was now devoid of agates so the room was a little more jovial.

"Domina!" 9ZQ called. "Come back to pick this up?" Domina shook her head.

"No, I have to run our... guests, off planet." She said.

"Come on don't you have gems for that?" 9ZQ walked towards them with a wide smile. Steven and Connie stared up at the gems in awe, Domina had to wonder if they had actually ever seen a full size quartz before.

"I do, but really when have I ever passed up an opportunity to get off planet?"

"Mossy said you came through with a bunch of Off Colors, " Shouted another Milky Quartz from across the room. Domina nodded.

"I did, It's been a weird day."

"Huh. So squish." 9ZQ said looking at Connie. "Can you use that Quartz sword or are you just carrying it around for looks?"

"I can use it, I'm not great but I'm improving" Connie said hefting the weapon.

"Connie's great!" Steven gushed "She's really learned a lot from Pearl! And we fight together all the time!" Connie twiddled with the edge of her braid, her face red.

"Sword lessons from a Pearl?" 9ZQ gave a little laugh, "What backwater planet have you two been living on?"

"Well they are humans." Domina said. She waited a few moments for 9ZQ to figure it out.

"Earth? Wait but that was... Wait a pearl? Giving sword lessons on earth, Oh Shale she's still out there?!" Milky actually looked kind of nervous, she glanced at Domina, then at Pearl standing slightly behind her.

"She is." Pearl said.

"Great, figured that terrifying part of my life was over." She glanced at Domina again, then at pearl. "Does she know-"

"Yes." Domina said "I've seen her fight, the spear looks impractical but her form's impeccable."

"Yeah and she was downright terrifying on the battlefield with that Rose Quartz. Shale do you think she's still around?" 9ZQ said. Domina and Steven looked at each other.

"No," Domina said

"Probably not." Steven agreed

The ship arrived precisely 4 hours later, Landing a bit aways from the base and looking as imposing here on 36-JK8 as it did on Homeworld.

"Woah." Lars said upon seeing it, The group looked up at the ship in awe as Domina had the ramp lowered.

"Why don't you fly this ship all the time?" Connie asked, "Don't Blue and Yellow Diamond use their armships all the time?"

"A few Reasons." Domina said leading them on board. "It's bulky, not really built for the conditions out here, it doesn't corner well, doesn't go very fast and," She said gesturing for the lights to come on in the main control room, revealing a swath of panels used for both piloting and communications, as well as a diamond sized chair that towered over the room. "I live in the shadow of my mother metaphorically everyday, I have no urge to live in it literally."


	14. XIV

_Vitus, the specific name for the human I have "borrowed" from Pinks zoo, seems rather more intelligent than I had initially suspected. He's curious about the kindergarden process and has made several observations likening it to the human's agricultural process, some research will need to be done into this "Crop rotation". He has been allowed, monitored, free range of the ship, something that will continue once we land on 19-H25._

 _Pink's Pearl mentioned that she found him in the Quartz's training room yesterday, apparently holding his own against one of the Milky Quartzes. Perhaps on earth he was some sort of soldier? My efforts to talk about his past life have been... less than successful, as he seems more interested in prying into mine. The next few planets on this list will be focusing on gem production for the other two's court's, Blue has requested sapphires and-_

Domina was pulled out of her reading by the door to the storage room opening. Connie was standing in the doorway and she blinked slightly when she saw Domina sitting in the corner. The ship had been in FTL for nearly 6 hours and Domina had been avoiding the group for almost all of it.

"Hello." She said, minimizing her screen.

"Hey." The girl said awkwardly "Steven was wondering if you were ok, but Pearl said you were probably just sleeping, and then said that someone should wake you up and I volunteered." Domina smirked and got to her feet.

"How brave, I'm awake, are we close?"

"Yep! The Rutiles said that we'll be landing in a few minutes." Connie said.

"Excellent."

"Why were you in here?" Connie said. Domina gestured to the rest of the ship as she exited the room with the girl and began to head towards the bridge.

"You've seen this place, it's intimidating. I feel like..." She trailed off and stroked her chin in thought.

"A pebble in a shoe?" Connie prompted Domina nodded.

"Yeah that works, fitting."

"Your not how I thought you would be." Connie said

"I rarely am, why what did Steven tell you?"

"Not much, he said that you were kind of.. Un diamond like?" Connie looked hesitantly at her, then continued when Domina looked at her interestedly. "It's just, he's told me about the other two diamonds and they both seem really strict and not like they would just offer to take a bunch of people home in their biggest ship." Domina snorted.

"I grew up in a fleet and things are a little more lax when you get away from Homeworld Proper, besides I like Steven."

"That seems to be a common thread for a lot of people." Connie said. Domina nodded.

"Well he's very likeable." Connie blushed.

"Yeah he is."

On the bridge Steven was excitedly catching Lars up on everything that apparently had been going on on earth while the boy had been gone. The Rutiles were manning the controls and looked at Domina nervously when she stopped to stand next to them.

"Not to disparage your piloting skills but I would rather land the ship myself." She said. Left Rutile nodded frantically.

"Yes of course." Right Rutile said as they slid out of their seat. Domina settled into the chair and set her hands lightly on the console.

"Where should I land Steven?" Domina asked.

"Uh, in Beach City, on the beach probably." He said. Domina brought their approach up on screen. They were coming in fast so Domina pulled back and listened to the sounds of the ship's stabilizers straining against the atmosphere. The ship was plenty steady, it was hard to move but it was approaching Beach City now slowly decelerating into an easy landing.

The scene changed and Domina frowned before realizing Pearl was messing with the controls to show Steven a view of the beach. There was a very very old gem temple built into a cliff face and in front of it, in parallel to the large group of humans on the boardwalk, Domina could see a small group of figures that were clearly gems in stances that meant they were probably panicking.

"I see Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst and oh Peridot and Lapis are there!" Connie said.

"Uh, do we have anyway to call down to let them know it's us?" Lars said.

"If someone will take over the communications panel Fluorite is sitting by we should be able to call down." Domina said focusing on keeping the ship balanced through the last of the atmospheric turbulence. It was then that something Connie had said caught up to her.

"Wait did you say Lapis? As in a Lapis Lazuli?" She asked seconds before a massive watery hand impacted the side of the ship. Everyone lurched to the side as the ship almost went horizontal.

"Oh no oh no Oh no!" Rhodonite panicked after she had pulled Padparadscha out of the air.

"Hold.. On... everyone!" Fluorite said grabbing everyone that fallen into her. It was only by pure force of will that Domina managed to hold onto the console, Pearl had grabbed her arm as she had fallen sideways and had now transferred her grip to the back of the chair. Domina fought to restabilize the ship.

"Domina-" She said.

"I've got it I've got it! "She said, ask she lurched with the ship yet again to avoid another watery fist. She heard the sound of a steering engine failing from the quick turn.

On screen there was more panicking going on down on the beach. The gems seemed to be arguing amongst themselves. The ship was losing altitude faster.

She needed to do something. Something quick. Something that would protect them. Domina could feel her heart racing, her gem burning.

Then everything just stopped. Domina looked around and saw that she was no longer on the ship, she floated in blackness and saw thousands upon thousands of pictures, all of which showed snippets of scenes, some were of Steven, some of Connie, one showed a Pearl and a Ruby dancing. Everything was connected with a series of threads, Domina felt like she could reach out and touch them. Then one scene caught her attention from the corner of her eye. A tall, blindingly white figure stretched out a hand towards Pearl. Her mother. Domina felt her head slam forward and suddenly she was back, people were screaming.

"Steven, Bubble!" Connie shouted.

"Hold on!" Steven shouted he was reaching for Domina and Pearl.

"No I've got to cut the power otherwise we'll crash full force!" Domina said. "Whatever your going to do do it now!" Suddenly she felt herself being ripped from the seat and she was tumbling towards the pile of gems. Before she had even impacted Fluorite the group was encased in a pink bubble. Seconds before the impact Domina looked up and saw Pearl cut the engine power. "Pearl!" Domina launched herself towards the gem only to ricochet off the bubble.

The ship was impacted by one final attack, this one broke look the hull sending pieces of debris flying,a piece hit Pearl, spearing her through the shoulder. She poofed, her gem fell to the floor and rolled to the side.

Then the ship lurched yet again and was held steady.

Steven's bubble fell and Domina scrambled out of the pile to find Pearls gem. the ship still moved, like it was being carried before finally some latent vestibular sense let Domina know that they had been set down and had stopped moving. She could hear the door open and people shouting but she was still searching, amongst the pale debris it was hard to pick out Pearl's pale pink circular gem but finally she found it, falling to her knees and clutching it to her chest in relief.

"Domina!" She heard her name, spoken in a tone that suggested that this wasn't the first time that it had been called. She turned around wiping her eyes to see Steven staring at her worried.

"Is Pearl ok? Are you ok?" He asked. Behind him she could see a horrified looking blue gem. A Lapis Lazuli. The one who had caused this. Domina felt rage begin to trickle through her veins as the winds began to pick up. White Diamond felt herself rise and sneered.

"You."


	15. XV

White Diamond tackled the Lapis pushing her back into the beach with a yell.

"This is your fault" She shouted, A wave of water yanked her back off of the gem tossing her into the air.

"My fault!? If you're not a threat then what business did you have showing up in a Diamond warship!" Lapis rose into the air. Both parties ignoring the shouting below.

White Diamond steadied herself level with the Lapis and blasted away a wave of water with a jet of air, rising and then swooping back down to attack the gem.

"I told the Crystal Gems I was no threat!" She shoved her down back towards the beach, kicking up a pillar of sand which White Diamond used to surround Lapis in a vortex. "Pearl assured them! And because of you-" White diamonds arms were pulled behind her and she thrashed.

"Because of you I nearly lost the only person in this universe I care about!" Domina shouted.

Lapis had pulled herself free from the vortex and a fist was rising above White Diamond.

At The last moment White Diamond broke free, dipping out from under the thousands of gallons above her, up to eclipse the sun then drew her sword diving for Lapis Lazuli.

At that point she was hit across the face with a sheet of metal. Domina fell off course, her sword dissipating as her concentration broke. She landed on the sand, vision already going blurry, and heard a distinctly Peridot voice.

"ARE YOU OK LAPIS?" before everything went black.

It was dark and Domina could feel the side of her face throbbing. She assessed the situation with her eyes closed. She was laying on something soft on her back. And there were people talking nearby.

"She attacked me!" Lapis said

"You dunked her ship outta the sky! Which was totally awesome but still" Amethyst said.

"Also Pink Pearl got poofed, I think she was maybe more upset by that."Steven pointed out.

"Which is ridiculous, a Pearls reformation time is less than a week on average." a Peridot's nasally voice said, Domina assumed it was the same one from earlier

"Wait what?" Amethyst said sounding shocked.

"Well yes, obviou-" The Peridot began only to be cut off by the voice of the Renegade Pearl

"I like to take my time you should know this Amethyst. Regardless thanks to your actions Lapis we are now stuck with her unless we could repair the ship."

"We're really going to fix a Diamond ship?" Peridot asked skeptically

"Well she can't stay here." Pearl said

"Why not?" Steven sounded kind of surprised

"Steven she's a diamond."

"And Blue and Yellow Diamond will eventually notice she's gone." Garnet said.

"That will be a problem." Domina said finally deciding to reveal that she was awake. She sat up and opened her eyes to see that she was inside.

She was sitting on a couch, the Crystal Gems along with Steven, the Lapis and a Peridot were congregated in a different part of the house that looked like some sort of food preparation area. Domina, touched her face gingerly, and gently worked her jaw to pop it back into position.

Pearl's gem was sitting on a low table next to the couch, wrapped gently in a blanket. Domina let out a relieved breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Then she looked at the gems who were all standing there with varying levels of worry.

"Are you ok Domina?" Steven asked "Peridot hit you pretty hard, Connie said you might have a concussion. Also she said thanks, her parents picked her up so she had to go." Domina smirked, then winced at the pain.

"I'm fine," She got to her feet shakily and saw the Peridot duck behind the Lapis who looked like she was getting ready to bolt. "Relax." She said holding her hands up. "I apologize, I should not have over reacted as I did." She inclined herself slightly, not quite a bow but enough to show deference.

"Uh, it's cool, I probably should've..." She momentarily glanced at Garnet then away. "not, attacked you immediately." Domina Shrugged.

"I've had worse landings Pearl could te-" Domina glanced at the inert gem and snapped her mouth shut. There was a beat of awkward silence before Domina shook her head and gently rubbed her face again. "How long have I been out?"

"Almost an hour." Steven said "Connie's parents came to pick her up, like I said and then Lars went to go see Sadie and his parents and the Off Colors went with him."

Domina nodded slowly and looked at the Peridot.

"Since when do era 2 peridots have ferrokinesis?" She asked. The Peridot squeaked and clung to the Lapis Lazuli firmly before nervously stammering her answer.

"I uh it was a recent discovery, I believe the limb enhancers typically outfitted to peridots may block the emergence of the power."

"Huh. Interesting." Domina said, she smoothed her clothes slightly. "You must be Peridot 5XG." Peridot's eyes were huge behind her visor.

"I uh... yes?"

"Well congratulations, I've been wanting to call Yellow Diamond a Clod for the past four thousand years. Now," She said and looked at the Renegade "what kind of state is the ship in?"

The ship and a majority of the pieces were laying on the beach, blocking off most of the peninsula that jutted out into the ocean.

It was mostly in one piece, though a huge chunk had been taken out of the lower hull and one of the engines was almost completely ruined.

"I don't know if even Pearl and I are capable of fixing this." Peridot said flatly. It was just the three off them standing in front of the ship. "This thing is an antique practically"

"We don't have to." Pearl said, her gem projected a schematic of the inside of the ship. "theres

A reformation core in this ship." A small sphere was called out on the projection, it seemed to be located in the same quarter of the ship as White Diamonds personal chamber. "We simply need to attach the broken pieces with a temporary adhesive and activate the core."

"You're making that up, there's no such thing as a reformation core!" Peridot scoffed.

"No she's right." Domina said inspecting the schematic then pulling up her own on her visor screen. "They're standard on Diamond ships and anything else that the Authority really wants back"

"The hand ship didn't have one of those." Peridot said. Pearl and Domina looked at each other for a moment, and then Domina turned her visor towards the other two.

"I'll activate the core, power will need rerouted through to this section of the ship, otherwise there's no way all of this will be fixed in under a month."

"I can re route the power." Pearl said "Peridot, get the rest of the gems to help you, there's some Duct tape in the cupboard under the stairs that should work to hold the pieces together."

"Fine." The gem said. Domina headed into the ship, climbing carefully through the wreckage.

"You're going to have to make sure any auxiliary systems are shut down in that part of the ship." Pearl said. "Though I'm sure, unless you use this ship frequently, a majority of the systems are already shut down."

"I don't, I'll take a walk through though." Domina said. Pearl nodded and disappeared into the corridors of the ship.

The reformation core was actually relatively easy to find, it was an plumbob floating horizontal about 6 inches above a glowing pedestal. Domina approached it and very gently turned it mid air so that it was vertical. There was nothing for a moment then the plumbob retracted into the pedestal and a white screen took it's place.

 _ **Repairs initiated...**_

 _ **Progress 30%**_

 _ **Flight not Recommended.**_

Domina nodded and left the room, turning the lights off as she went. Domina walked the remainder of that section of the ship, powering down automatic doors and turning off any errant lights.

Finally she worked her way to White Diamond's room. The only thing on there were the lights set into star charts on the wall. Domina turned them off then frowned when she saw that the console next to the diamond sized chair was still on. Domina went over and attempted to find an off switch on the side.

When she didn't find one she took a stuttering flight into the chair. A little bit of fiddling was all it took for her to open the screen for the computer. The interface was ancient, something that she hadn't seen since she was a child, and even then her memories were only faint.

Domina attempted to shut down the computer only to receive a pop-up.

 _ **Message must be played before Shut Down cycle is run**_

Domina frowned then selected the option to open the message.

Her mother appeared on screen, her face impassive and bigger that Domina's entire body.

"Hello Child."


	16. XVI

"Mater." Domina said softly.

"I am not expecting you to see this until you are well within your abilities as a diamond." White Diamond said. Domina stared up at the screen, moving far back into the seat. She had seen pictures of her mother, and even the odd recording but this was the first time the former Matriarch had ever addressed her directly.

"To be quite honest if it wasn't for.. Certain sensitive information I believed needed to be delivered to you as directly as possible, I would not have bothered to create this video for you"

"Your.. father, has suggested that I say a few words as it will be impossible for the both of us to exist simultaneously, but considering the logs that are to be left to you to read I believe that any kind of advice that I could give will be made redundant by anything you may read there or that the teaching of various gems and Yellow Diamond could provide."

"What you need to know has to deal directly with the events that took place on earth. I expect that Yellow will have at least made you familiar with the events of the rebellion." White diamond paused and seemed to mull over the statement for a moment.

"However I do know that as much as she may try, Yellow does tend to be ruled by emotion and the rebellion is a sore point for her. And really depending on when you find this it might not even matter." White diamond shook her head and returned her gaze to the recorder.

"Colonizing earth was a mistake, In hindsight, despite the possibilities that the planet offered, attempted colonization of a planet with sentient life that was at such a penultimate point in its development was a bad idea. But all three of us were so determined to add another to our ranks. So we began work on earth anyway." Domina thought back to the hopeful entry she had read almost a month ago now. Very rarely did White Diamond ever express regrets in any of her writings.

"Everything went well until one of Pink Diamonds Rose Quartzes took more of an interest in the planet and it's inhabitants that she ought to of." White diamond paused, then brought up a screen behind her showing various formulas that Domina recognized as those used for the injectors.

"Here I ought to elaborate, a Rose quartz was a specialized gem type created as caretakers for the human zoo that Pink Diamond had made in the hope of preserving some of the planet's life after the Earth was hollowed out during its colonization process. The idea was to create a quartz with a nurturing and protective nature, mirroring those that were present in humans themselves." White diamond dismissed the screens

"We don't make them anymore."

"This Rose Quartz was very successful in rallying gems to her cause calling their organization 'The Crystal Gems'. She promised them that they could do things outside their prescribed roles which greatly aided in many of the Crystal Gems victories. We, homeworld were simply not flexible enough, we did not consider the possibilities that competent fighters and tacticians could take the forms of Zircons or.. Pearls." White Diamond pursed her lips and momentarily looked away from the screen.

"In the end they were quite successful in shutting down kindergarten production, forcing us to make quick and costly mistakes, they had us at a stalemate and then finally Rose Quartz dissipated and captured Pink Diamond." Domina blinked, that wasn't what Yellow had said

"This is where anything you may have heard about the rebellion will begin to diverge." White Diamond said as if sensing her shock. "And perhaps where powers you may not be readily cognizant of may come into play. Diamonds, as you know, are different than other crystalline makeup lends us to certain abilities that are not standard amongst even the most elite of common gems. I am sure you are familiar with Blue's emotional projection and manipulation, Yellow can dissipate and to a certain extent manipulate the physical forms of gems,and Pink could, as far as we could tell, could reverse the effects of kindergartening, though we never were able to experiment with it on a wide scale. The plan originally was to have her take over for me as head of the colonization fleet but," A small smile had started to form on the Diamond's face but as the sentence trailed off it faded.

"No matter, it never came to pass. My particular power set deals with direct interaction with a gems core, capable of accessing and altering their memories. You may have developed this, you may have not, all simulations I have run have been inconclusive." White Diamond waved her hand as if to end the digression.

"When Pink Diamond was captured I decided that it was time for me to get involved in the negotiations to protect and I met with Rose Quartz and her-" White diamonds lips formed an uneasy grimace, "second in command, we discussed the terms that homeworld would be willing to agree on, essentially we were prepared to leave the planet to them, relocating all existing loyal homeworld supporters off planet. The Crystal gems also wanted Pink Diamond to restore the earth to its original state, to reverse the damages done by the kindergartens." Domina swore she could hear White Diamonds voice grow tight.

"I refused, the damage was already done, we had altered the planet's continental plates, along with several other minute changes that would be an extreme waste of time and resources to repair, if they could be repaired at all. Pearl-" White diamond caught herself, "Rose Quartz's second in command attempted to argue the point, she probably knew better than anyone but me in how that colony was to be built but she still argued." Domina could practically feel the anger in White Diamonds words leaking through the screen.

"I lashed out, ordered the squads of gems with me to attack and attacked Rose Quartz myself. Her Second in Command attempted to protect her but at the last moment Rose Quartz thrust the bubble containing Pink's gem." The Diamond's voice had gone tight. "I don't know whether it was a reflex or an attempt to stop the attack but Pink's Gem shattered at my attack." White Diamond turned her face away and Domina thought she might have wiped away a tear. Her voice almost took on a pleading tone

"As you can imagine I couldn't let that stand. Something like that would have ruined the authority, all of gem society, my relationship with Blue." White Diamond took a breath and there was a pause. Domina almost wondered for a second if that was going to be the end of the message before White diamond spoke again, her voice level and unemotional. "I over wrote the memory of all gems involved, from rubies to Blue diamond herself. Then when their forms dissipated from the strain I took them back with me to the ship. And we made our final attack."

"As far as anyone who was there knows Rose Quartz shattered Pink Diamond in cold blood, finally taking the rebellion too far. Now the only ones that would remember are gone. Yellow knows what happened and understands that it needs to be kept a secret in order to keep the Authority united. You now know..." White diamonds Voice faded. "You know now why it is you exist." Domina blinked feeling incredibly confused, those two statements did not match up.

"In the years since I have increasingly discovered my own failings in leading the empire. Our inflexibility will be our downfall. You though, you are the intersection of a Diamond's power and a Human's ability to change and develop. You will find that ability, that flexibility to be more powerful than any diamond's ability. I-" White Diamond paused for another moment, for the first time looking unsure of her words.

"Your father and I have discussed your individual signifier, I told him it was unnecessary because there will never be anything like you but he insisted that this kind of thing was important. When we discovered you were going to be a female I think I finally understood why. So know this Domina," White diamond said, looking eye to eye with Domina, who shivered, her heart aching. "You will be better than me. You will not be bound by the ideals that homeworld sets, praising gems that can perform the task they were created for and nothing else. You will provide new insight and lead the empire into a grand age. Domina, understand that change will not come easy but you are capable of leading our people into greatness."

White Diamond inclined her head.

"That will be all."


	17. XVII

Domina staggered off the ship a few minutes later, her lack of sleep was finally catching up with

her now that her adrenaline had been brought down by her mother's message. Steven was waiting just outside the ship with a Human man. The man had long hair that was balding at the top of his head. His skin was also red in an interesting pattern that reminded Domina of her father.

"Hey Domina!" Steven said. "Pearl said you were just turning things off so the ship would heal faster." Domina nodded.

"Yes. Everythings off." She looked at Steven then quizzically at the man.

"Hey!" He said extending his hand "Greg Universe, I'm Stevens dad, we were going to go get some pizza and Schtu-ball here was wondering if you wanted to come with us."

"Oh." Domina shook her head. "I um.. I really should probably lay down for a bit and get some work done and.. I would like to be there when my Pearl reforms."

"Peridot says she was going to be a while." Steven said "And.. have you had pizza?" he asked eyes pleading. Domina looked at the house then back at Steven and his father. Her stomach rumbled.

"Very well."

"You know I was worried too when Pearl got poofed but that was mostly because I didn't know that could happen to gems." Steven said talking through his slice of Pizza, Domina was on her third since the food had been brought to the table.

"How long did it take... her to reform?" Domina asked through a mouthful of food, manners had been thrown to the wayside when she had realized how hungry she was.

"Two weeks." Steven said. Domina nearly choked.

"Woah slow down there kid." Greg said, not for the first time. "It's not going anywhere."

"Sorry." Domina mumbled after she swallowed. "It took her two weeks!? Thats' crazy!"

"Well how long did it take last time Pink Pearl poofed." Steven asked. Domina took another bite and chewed slowly before answering.

"She hasn't been since I was born at the very least." She said then blushed awkwardly "We've.. never really been apart for more than a day before." Greg smiled sympathetically.

"Well don't worry, she'll be back before you know it."

"And you can stay as long as you need until the ship's fixed!" Steven said. Domina chuckled

"Thanks."

"Sounds like you both have kind of had a rough day." Greg said, he gestured at Domina "I mean it looks like you haven't slept in a week." Domina laughed again and waved him off.

"No it's only been 48 hours." Greg stopped laughing abruptly.

"Wait what?"

"I mean." Domina was still giggling, it like was she couldn't stop "I was knocked out for a hour, so I guess technically that counts but Pearl told me to take a nap while we were on the ship and I got distracted and ended up reading the whole time and then it turns out there's no point to reading what's left because it's not like my mother left anything but a mess to deal with and the only two people I can talk to about it are-" She cut herself off when she realized that Steven and Greg were staring at her. Domina went red and rubbed her face. "Sorry"

"It's alright.I think you really do need some sleep though ." Greg said.

"Yeah! We can have a sleepover!" Steven said.

"Uh...sure?" Domina took another bite of pizza. The door to the pizza place opened with a jingle.

"Just hold on I'll be quick I promise!" Lars said. Steven turned around in his chair and Domina glanced up, mouth full of pineapple and ham. The boy had changed clothes, he was wearing blue pants and a shirt with some sort of snake on it. He was accompanied by a short blond woman and carrying a bundle of cloth. Domina glanced at the window and saw the entire group of off colors looking through the window, along with two people who looked like they were probably Lars' parents. "Yo, White Diamond." He said.

"Hey Lars Hey sadie!" Steven said waving. The girl grinned and waved back, she was holding onto Lars' arm.

"Hey Steven, Mr. Universe," She looked at Domina, her smile was still strong. "And you must be White Diamond."

"Yes.." Domina said, setting down her piece of pizza. "Please though, you can call me Domina."

"Huh, well nice to meet you! Thanks for bringing Lar's back." Sadie said gesturing to the boy.

Lars Looked uncomfortable.

"Look uh, yeah what she said, thanks and everything, Is Pearl alright?" Lars asked. Domina nodded.

"Yes she wasn't cracked so she'll reform.. In a few days."

"Ok, well Fluorite said you might be stuck on earth for a while till the ship gets fixed and I thought you might want another set of clothes atleast. These are kind of too big for me, which means they might actually fit, your kind of tall." Lars said handing her the bundle of cloth. Domina smiled.

"I think that's the first time anyone has said that too me. Thank you." She said.

"Yeah well.. Your welcome." He said awkwardly, He and sadie looked at each other then at the group then turned to leave.

"Lars." Domina said. The pink human turned.

"Yeah?"

"Next time you decide to steal a ship from homeworld go for a roaming eye, nobody ever notices when those things go missing." Domina said. Lars grinned.

"Thanks for the tip."

Stevens bathroom had a mirror. Domina, had of course seen mirrors before but it was still strange, the image she had in her head of what her face looked like did not equal what she saw in her reflections.

To put it mildly she looked horrible. There were dark circles under her bloodshot eyes that were even visible under the bruise from where that Peridot had hit her. Her hair was disheveled giving off strange reflections in the light as she turned her head. She touched the diamond in her forehead gently and then raked her hair over it loosely. Anything to avoid the shadow of her mother for the rest of the day.

In the bundle of clothes that Lars had given her were one rather large orange short sleeve shirt that had a picture of some sort of terrestrial vehicle on it, one long sleeved shirt with a multitude of colors crisscrossed across it, A pair of sturdy blue pants and a pair of soft grey pants. Domina put on the short sleeved shirt and the soft pants, neatly folded the rest of her clothes, set her visor on top, then exited the bathroom.

The rest of the house was relatively dark with only the faintest illumination coming from the glow of crystals surrounding the temple. There were no gems visible in the house, but Steven was up the stairs in the small loft above the couch. Domina went up the stairs and saw he had made a very large bed on the floor and was already laying down on it on his back.

"Hey Domina! Do you want to watch a movie or something first or go to sleep?" He asked turning over. Domina glanced around and saw that he had moved the blanket with Pearls gem wrapped in it to the actual bed. "I thought you might be more comfortable if she was close by."

"Thanks steven." Domina said with a small smile. She laid down on the floor, feeling the exhaustion already start to take her over.

"No problem. Have you really not slept in 2 days." He asked. She closed her eyes.

"Nope."

"Wow, I think the longest I've ever gone without sleeping was that one time I stayed up all night when Peridot was shooting her robots at earth, or maybe when we were looking for malachite in the ocean."

"Mhm." Domina grunted, her consciousness was going fuzzy at the edges.

"Hey Domina?" Steven asked a few moments. Domina frowned and forced herself back awake.

"Yes Steven?"

"Did your mom leave you any messages or anything?" Steven asked. Domina opened her eyes and rolled over, sighing.

"Yes, why do you ask?" Steven was laying on his back staring at the ceiling.

"Oh just wondering, My mom did too, she left me a video in lion, and like the sword that Connie uses and... some other stuff."

"My.. Mother left me her journals, 20,000 years of information about planets she conquered, and I guess I got a video too." Domina said, frowning.

"Really?" steven turned over and looked at her hopefully. "She didn't tell you about the corruption or pink diamond or anything did she?"

"I...I don't know anything about the corruption, I didn't even know something like that was possible a few weeks ago." She said.

"And pink diamond?" Steven asked, he looked a lot less hopeful. Domina thought for a moment then laid back down.

"Can you let me sleep and think about it Steven?" She asked closing her eyes.

"Oh. right sorry, you can sleep. Oh and Domina?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks."


	18. XVIII

When Domina woke up there was something pink laying next to her. She blinked, her mouth felt dry and actually she felt like she had slept for quite a while. She laid there in a bit of a daze, mind almost completely empty and feeling warm. Then the pink thing moved. Domina frowned and realized she could hear people talking.

"Dude is she still asleep?" Amethyst asked "It's like noon."

"She was really tired, she didn't even wake up when I turned on Crying Breakfast Friends, or when Lion tried to lay on her." Steven said, the two were standing somewhere else in the house, by the kitchen maybe.

"I sleep heavy." Domina said, she sat up and stretched, right as the Pink thing opened its jaws in a yawn to reveal a maw full of sharp predatory teeth. Domina yelped and quite literally flew off the loft landing on her back on the floor between the couch arrangement and the kitchen. "What in the stars is that!" Domina asked.

"Oh that's lion, it's ok he's harmless." Steven said. He offered her a hand while Amethyst laughed. Domina took it and got to her feet. The house was empty other than the three of them, the temple doors were silent.

"Yo, so P and the G squad are out on a mission. Me and steven were going to go to the Barn to hang out with Lapis and P-dot. You wanna come?" Amethyst asked. Domina blinked and took a moment to parse the Gems meaning.

"Oh, uh, I really should get some work done I'm probably more behind than normal. How long did you say I was asleep?" Domina asked.

"Like twelve hours" Steven said. Domina blanched then rubbed the back of her neck, and glanced up to where Pearls gem still sat on the bed.

"I haven't done that in a century and a half." She muttered, then louder said. "I really should get some work done then."

"Aww come on..." Steven said, his eyes getting big and pleading. "It'll be fun, besides who knows when you'll be back on earth." Domina felt her heartstrings tug a little bit.

"Well I want to be here when Pearl regenerates." She attempted to protest.

"Dude just bring her with. It ain't no thing." Amethyst said. Steven nodded enthusiastically. Domina sighed and looked between the two of them, then back up at where Pearl was.

"Fine, but I'm bringing my visor so I can get something done." Domina said. Steven whooped.

"Just let me get cleaned up."

The Trio left the house via warp pad about twenty minutes later, to arrive at the same location where Domina had warped in the first time she had met Steven. She hung back slightly as they walked. Steven and Amethyst were chatting up ahead, while Domina approved or dismissed transfer orders, requisition requests and building permits. Pearls Gem was sitting in the breast pocket of the multi colored shirt that Lars had given her, the sleeves had been just a tad too short so they were rolled up above her elbow. She had much more in her inbox than usual, yet another reason to miss Pearl.

They walked up to a large building surrounded by cultivated plant life, the building itself was largely red but was very eclectic in design.

"Is that what one of these is supposed to look like?" Domina asked.

"Nah." Amethyst said.

"Peridot and Lapis did some redecorating." Steven said going up and pounding on the door.

"I see.." Domina said smiling ever so slightly.

"Peridot! Lapis! We're here!" Steven called into the structure.

"Come on in!" Peridot shouted. They went in and inside the Barn was possibly even more eclectic, There was a giant tank of water with fish swimming inside set into the wall, cans and leather gloves hanging from the ceiling, and in the corner there was a stack of Toilets like the ones from Stevens bathroom. Domina frowned slightly and was still taking in the barn when Peridot, still without her limb enhancers floated gently to the ground atop a dome shaped piece of metal. "Is White Diamonds ship f- Oh my stars!" Peridot jumped off the metal and fell backwards before scrambling to her feet.

"Steven you didn't tell me you were bringing White Diamond with you!" She said in a tense, forcefully cheerful voice. Domina shifted uncomfortably. Being around Gems who were unfamiliar with her was always slightly awkward for the first decade or so, and really there was no reason for her to attempt to connect.

"I can just go, really steven I've got stuff to work on." Domina said.

"Yeah don't want to slow down the empire." Peridot said still forcing a smile.

"Relax P-dot, she's not here to be all diamondy." Amethyst said. Domina chuckled slightly.

"I read your report, on the cluster." Domina said.

"You did?!" Peridot said.

"Yes, it was in amongst the files on earth." She said. "Out of curiosity how did you neutralize the cluster."

"We bubbled it!" Steven said. Domina frowned.

"You bubbled it? Wait. explain." She said

The explanation consisted of several dramatic demonstrations by Steven and Peridot, along with some comments from Amethyst, by the end of it Domina couldn't help but laugh, which seemed to put Peridot at ease.

"Yellow just thinks it failed to emerge." She said. "Oh man, this whole thing is..." She shook her head. "It's crazy."

"What do you mean?" Steven said.

"Well," She gestured at the three in front of her. "A group like you just wouldn't work together this closely on homeworld." She said "I mean, even just working daily with each other is odd, nevermind building a drill out of scrap."

"I have mentioned before that the Crystal Gems methods of operation is very unorthodox, however It seems to give positive results."

"Wait so do like gems on homeworld never work with each other?" Amethyst asked.

"Well not necessarily." Domina said "It's just... Rubies work with quartz's, or Topazes, Nephrites work with and around other gems, but.. It's always for a purpose." She remembered what her mother had said about the flexibility of homeworld during the rebellion, or rather the lack thereof.

"It's different out in the colonies, but not by much." Peridot nodded.

"Exactly, but that's what's so great about earth! I mean back on Homeworld in a thousand years I only ever worked with 1 lapis. But that one was an Armenus."

"Well there are only so many Lapis', Was it the Armenus that did the work on Porlex-5?" Domina asked.

"I believe so, she liked to do these weird arches in kindergartens, completely structurally unsound and always stripped the manganese of the area." Peridot said. Domina made a face.

"Armenus' are always a little cracked." Lapis Lazuli's voice said from above. Domina jumped and looked up at the gem who was sitting on the lip of the barn loft.

"I've found that too." She said. "You did the work in the Alpha colonies didn't you?"

"Woah really lapis?"Steven asked. Lapis pursed her lips but nodded.

"Yeah that was me."

"I don't believe I've ever seen those." Peridot said.

"Eh, they're alright." Lapis said.

"More than alright." Domina turned on her visor and quickly pulled up pictures and turned them to face the group.

"Woah!" Steven said leaning in to see closer. Peridot was less interested in the pictures and more in the visor.

"What are those?" She asked. Domina logged out of her account and passed them to the peridot.

"Their a modified version of the screens Zircons use, with some tactile additions to get around the fact that my body's not hard light." Domina said. Peridot dismissed her visor and put on Domina's.

"This is fascinating."

"Keep it." Domina said.

"WHAT!?" Peridot said flailing her arms slightly. Domina shrugged.

"I've got another set, and really seeing a peridot thats not nose deep in a screen is just plain weird."

"Your brilliance I-"

"Please please don't call me that, I never go by that." Domina said. "Just call me Domina."

"But I-"

"Please, take them." She said crouching to Peridots level. Peridot stared at Amethyst and Steven, then at Lapis, all of which looked slightly taken aback by this conversation.

"Wow." Peridot said "Thanks."


	19. XIX

When they returned from the barn Domina went back to the ship to check on the restoration cycle. Flight was still not recommended but most of the hull had reattached itself, Domina didn't bother removing the duct tape though, it would burn off when they entered FTL.

The storage room her and Pearl usually stayed in was in shambles, so Domina took a moment to at least move everything back into place enough that she could find her spare visor and yet another change of clothes.

When she exited the ship the sun was setting, the view from the beach was possibly more beautiful than any of the others she had seen when she was on Earth. This was the first time that when she looked at the result of a planet's rotation in relation to a star when she could understand her father's stories of Apollo in the proper context. Domina watched the sunset for a few minutes, till only a sliver of light shone over the waters of the ocean.

When she entered the beach house Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl and Steven turned to look at her, she had the feeling she had just walked in on people talking about her.

"Hey Domina!" Steven said hopping off his stool. Everyone else smiled kind of uneasily and looked at Steven.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Well um... you know how I asked if you knew anything about Pink Diamond last night?" Steven asked.

"Yes..." Domina said she could already see where this was going.

"Do you think..." he hesitated and then looked at Garnet.

"We have reason to believe that Blue and possibly Yellow Diamond will come to Earth in search of answers about what happened to Pink Diamond, we have recently discovered that not all was as we thought it was. If you have any information that you are willing to share-"

"You don't know?" Domina interrupted the fusion and addressed the Renegade Pearl directly.

The Pearl pursed her lips and held her hands in front of her, one cupped and the other holding tight as if holding it back.

"P's dealing with some diamond shi-shale-" Amethyst glanced at Steven then gave Pearl a grin, to which the other gem simply sighed. "That keeps her from talking about it." Domina sighed and put on the visor, accessing the video which she had had sent to her account.

"I'm not surprised." She started the video, turned the screen towards them then set the visor on the counter to project out before leaving the house, letting the screen door slam behind her.

"-until you are well within your abilities as a diamond." Domina heard the recording say before she took to the sky with a leap, grabbing on to the wind to let it carry her anywhere but where she could hear those words.

Beach city below her was quiet, the area Steven had once pointed out to her as "Funland" was still lit up but even that light was soft against the warm darkness that had fallen over the city.

She could hear a multitude of sounds from her position, high pitched tones and low bass notes from a derelict building towards the edge of town, the sound of the ocean against the beach and towards the far side the soft sound of acoustic string instruments. Domina felt herself drawn there and saw a building with a sign that read "It's a Wash" She couldn't quite understand what that meant, the double version of the 'V' was still a mystery to her, one that she had shelved for later. She recognized the man sitting outside a metal vehicle though. Steven's father, Greg, was staring up at the sky, though he didn't seem to have noticed her. The music was coming from some sort of machine next to him where a black disc rotated on a plate. Domina hesitated for a moment and then gently landed nearby.

"Greg Universe." She said. Greg jumped but relaxed when he saw her.

"Hey Domina, what brings you all the way over here?" He asked. The music played on, a soothing song, familiar to homeworld music but so much different at the same time.

"I um...I heard the music." She said lamely.

"Oh well.. If you wanna stay and listen I'll grab you a chair." He said already standing and digging in the metal vehicle for one. Domina felt her body relaxing already and took a seat when Greg opened the foldable chair. "Rose never really talked about music on Homeworld, she liked stuff like this though." Greg said. Domina nodded.

"It's very different... I like it though." She said. She stared at the sky not quite knowing where else to look. She could see Homeworlds galaxy along with the one where the rest of the fleet was, it almost made her heart ache, but not for space, for a time where she didn't have these conflicting feelings.

"-drink, you look like you've got a lot on your mind." Greg said. Domina jerked back to the present and saw Greg was offering her a yellow can with a picture of some sort of red fruit on the side.

"Oh, thank you." She took it and then after a few moments of fumbling figured out how to undo the pop top.

"So." Greg said. "Penny for your thoughts?" Domina frowned at the saying but she understood the phrase... Probably.

"Did you and Rose Quartz have a plan for Steven?" She asked after a moment of deliberation and a long drink of the sweet juice.

"Nah not really. I mean, I know she asked Garnet and Pearl to make sure that they would help him with Gem stuff and we talked about his name and things he might like to do but..." Greg took a drink and looked at the sky. "Rose just wanted Steven to be Steven, to not have a life set out for him from the beginning," He said "she thought how it was so cool how humans had so many possibilities in their lives." Domina felt a slight burn of jealousy. "Why do you ask?" Greg asked. Domina looked at the man, who looked back at her with an expression she remembered seeing on Pearl after so many nightmares and days spent questioning if she was doing enough. Domina took a deep breath, rationalized that she probably would never see this man again anyway and spoke.

"All my life I thought that my mother really loved my father, that maybe she chose to do something wonderful for him in giving up herself to have me." Domina took a sip, Greg didn't interrupt, he just listened. "I spent most of my life trying to make sure that I wasn't going to let that sacrifice go in vain and then I found out that she gave herself up so that someone else would deal with all her problems. That she just left and expected me to somehow be better than her. That she didn't think if I would want to lead the gods forsaken empire. That all she thought of me and my father as was some sort of tool to push the empire into it's next age." Domina cut herself off by finishing the can. Greg silently handed her another and waited until she opened it before speaking.

"That's really rough." he said. Domina snorted into the new can, causing the juice to splash up her nose.

"That's putting it one way." She said.

"But why should it matter?" Greg asked. Domina frowned and looked at him.

"Huh?"

"Well, I'm guessing you dads gone. Your mom's half of you now. Who say's you have to follow her plan for you?" He said "You could do whatever you want. I mean, from what little I've heard about your mom I get the feeling that she was a lot like the other diamonds and from what I've heard about you you don't seem like that at all." Domina felt her face flush.

"That's, not really a good thing, Pearl's always telling me I care too much. I don't act like a diamond."

"Well, that not a bad thing," the music stopped and Greg changed the disk, this time the music was more upbeat. Domina tapped her foot in time. "Act like you, maybe that's what the Empire needs. You have the ability to change things, don't you?" He asked. Domina shrugged and took another sip of her juice.

"My mother was above the rest of the Diamond's but I'm... not my mother." Domina said with a sigh.

"Well that's true, but I'm sure you can do something." Greg said. "And all you can do it your best, I'm sure your dad and Pearl would be proud of you for just doing that much." Domina felt the weight of Pearls gem still in her breast pocket and gently put a hand over it.

"I hope so... thanks Greg." Domina said. Greg smiled

"Any time, so what do you think of this?" he asked gesturing to the machine the music was coming out of. Domina smiled back and nodded.

"It's good, does more earth music have words?"

"Oh yeah! Hold on, let me find some more stuff and I'll show you."


	20. XX

Pearl didn't reform for the next two days. The Crystal gems didn't speak with Domina after seeing the video, other than Garnet's thanks and a hug from Steven.

That was fine. Domina had work to do. She spent the time sitting next to Pearl's inert gem on the couch, approving requests and submitting changes to plans and every once in awhile breaking to read through some other things.

Not her mother's logs, she was done with those for the foreseeable future, now she was going through laws, through trial records for every shattering she could find. So many of them were for gems that just didn't fit the mold. And the closer to homeworld the planet was, the more minor the infraction was. Domina frowned, if anything that at least gave her a place to start.

The afternoon of the fourth day she was taking note, comparing court cases from not just her own court and planets, but also cases from the other two diamonds. The screen door opened and Steven walked in with Connie who was carrying a duffle bag with the hilt of the quartz sword sticking out of it.

"Oh hi Domina! Pearl still hasn't reformed?" Connie asked, she set the bag down on the table and opened it to take out the sword.

"Hello, not yet." Domina said. "Hopefully today." The door to the temple opened and Pearl walked out, her smile going tense when she saw Domina.

"Connie, Steven excellent, well shall we go?" She said pointedly ignoring the Diamond sitting on the couch.

"Ready ma'am!"

"You should come too Domina!" Steven said. She knew the statement was coming but still froze when Steven actually said it.

"Steven.." Pearl said looking possibly more uncomfortable.

"It'll be fun!" Steven said looking between the two of them.

"I should really just stay here in case Pearl reforms" Domina said quickly. The door to the temple opened again and Garnet walked out.

"Domina,you should go with them." She said. "I'll stay and watch Pearl." She took a seat on the opposite side of the gem from Domina, who looked between the Fusion and Pearl. Pearl didn't look particularly happy, and Garnet watched Domina as she awkwardly got up from the couch. She logged out and set her visor on the table.

"Alright then, I suppose"

"Awesome!" Steven said hopping onto the warp pad. Domina stood next to Connie, as far from Pearl as she could manage, Steven warped them out.

"Oh a sky arena." Domina said looking around when they landed.

"Yes." Pearl said shortly, turning and leading the way up the stairs. Domina followed behind them inspecting the arena. This was the oldest arena she had ever seen, old enough that the Diamond Authorities symbol still had a Pink Diamond in it. They entered the arena proper and descended the stairs, Domina glanced at the pillars that bore Gem writing and smiled. It was like every other arena she had ever been in, just more open, a lot more open.

Pearl put Steven and Connie through warm up drills and after a moment's decision Domina followed them. It was nice to actually move and shake off the normal lethargy that plagued her when she got stuck doing paperwork for days on end. She wasn't panting as hard as the kids by the end but then again her legs were also twice as long.

"Excellent." Pearl said, it was clear now that she was clearly trying not to make eye contact with Domina. "Now, we will continue with training with you two together as Stevonnie this week."

"Whose Stevonnie?" Domina asked with a puzzled frown.

"Steven and my fusion, they're really cool!" Connie said.

"You two can fuse?" Domina said "How is that possible?" Steven shrugged and out of the corner of her eye Domina could see Pearl growing tenser if that was at all possible. Both children proceeded to do a short dance, twirl together and in a flash of light in their place stood a person roughly Garnet's height.

"Hey!" They said offering the hand that wasn't holding a sword towards Domina. "Nice to meet you Domina." Domina blinked then shook Stevonnie's hand with a small smile.

"Likewise." She said "I have so many questions."

"They'll have to wait." Pearl said abruptly. "Now Stevonnie, we'll be working through the third sequence, I've turned up the difficulty on the holo-pearls so no holding back this week." she said. Domina took that as her cue to take a seat in the stone stands. She watched as the Renegade Pearl summoned a series of light projections, though these were far more advanced than anything Pearl had ever projected. Domina had to wonder what else Pearl was capable of, she had been with Domina her whole life, did she want the opportunity to do something more than sort through Domina's paperwork.

Domina shook her head to chase the thoughts away, there was no use dwelling on that when Pearl couldn't answer back for herself. She instead watched Stevonnie take on a group of about a dozen Pearl shaped projections, each armed with weapons not unlike Domina's own summoned weapon. The fusion fought with grace, easily balancing the large sword, which fit better in their hand than it probably did in Connie's, as well as Steven's shield.

Unwilling to remain idle Domina went through her own footwork drills on the open space in the stands. She didn't summon her weapon but mocked swinging a sword instead.

"You move like a quartz." The Renegades voice cut through her concentration. Domina paused and looked to see that Stevonnie and Pearl were both watching her.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning you're not one, you don't have the mass to back up your attacks." Pearl said, she had actually climbed the stairs towards are. "Also your stance is horrible." Domina smiled in amusement.

"It works for me." she said. Pearl scoffed.

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't improve."

"Well yes obviously." Domina said. "However, the only ones I have to learn from are Quartzes, and I rarely have time to practice."

"Pearl could show you some things!" Stevonnie suggested. Domina raised an eyebrow and looked at the gem in question. Pearl had drawn her hand to her mouth, thinking then reluctantly nodded.

"I could, if you were interested." She said. Domina smiled.

"Alright, Teach me."

Stevonnie took Domina's place in the stand and Domina summoned her weapon fluidly from her gem, Pearl did likewise.

"Shall we start with a spar?" Domina teased. "I'll go easy on you." Pearl didn't look so amused.

"Don't bother." She summoned the ridiculous spear and inclined herself slightly. Domina returned her bow and took a stance at the ready. For a moment everything was quiet then Pearl sprung into action. By the time She had raised her sword to block Pearls first attack the gem was already behind her, forcing her back with lightning fast attacks then weaving out of reach when Domina went to return with her own cuts. Before they had even exchanged a handful of blows Domina was on her back staring up at a twisted blue blade and a very smug looking Pearl.

"Woo go Pearl!" Stevonnie cheered. Domina burst into laughter, a full belly laugh like she hadn't had a long time.

"That was amazing!" She said "How did you do that?" she got to her feet the moment Pearl moved her blade. The Renegade Pearl smiled in response.

"You don't move enough." She commented, "And your stance is too grounded you're lighter than your opponent, keep that in mind."

"I will," Domina took a ready position again. "Show me? Just a bit slower this time,"

The group returned to the beach house several hours later, Domina could feel bruises forming and muscles that were going to hurt the next morning. But she was happy. Steven and Connie chatted amiably and even Pearl looked to be in a better mood than she had been earlier in the day. Garnet was still on the couch, Pearls gem was still dormant.

"Good right on time." Garnet said standing up. Domina frowned and was about to ask what she meant when the gem on the couch began to glow and rose up to have enough space. Domina felt relief wash over her as she watched Pearl reform from her base, to her previous projection and then finally drop to the floor gracefully.

She had changed her outfit, Instead of the complicated top and skirt combo she wore a pale pink, almost white shirt with diamond shapes cut out around the bottom to expose her gem. Her sleeves were still gauzey but now they were shorter. The biggest change was the pale nearly white pants that ended just below her knee, this was topped by the short pink skirt that she had worn before.

She dropped to the floor in front of the couch and looked herself up and down.

"Well this should be fine." She said softly.

"Pearl!" Domina cried literally flying across the room and tackling the gem into a hug.

"OH! Domina!" Pearl said caught off guard, she hugged back. "Sorry I did not mean to take so long My Diamond."

"It's ok." Domina said holding her tight "It's perfectly alright." She put an arm length between them, looked pearl over then hugged her again. "And you look lovely by the way." She felt a little bit of tension go out of the gem who then let go of her with one hand and waved at the others.

"Welcome back!"Steven said "Domina was really worried about you. Oh and Lapis say's she's sorry." Pearl nodded and very gently pried Domina's arms from around her waist. Domina moved one arm to her shoulder but didn't let go, very aware of the stares and very not caring.

"Good to see you again Pink." the Renegade Pearl said slightly stiffly. Pearl nodded.

"White, I see you survived a few days with Domina."

"She was a mess like the entire time." Amethyst drawled.

"Not the entire time!" Domina said. "Just... most of it." She said. Pearl hid a smile and looked Domina over.

"Well you seem no more worse for wear, so you obviously survived." she said. Domina squeezed her one more time and let go. "What kind of state is the ship in?"

"It's fixed, I checked it this morning and it's space wor-" Domina was cut off by the sound of the her visors message alert chiming. "That's new.." The only people she ever talked to via visor were her agates and most of them prefered to communicate via text. She glanced at the worried gems and then picked up her visor and answered the call. She was met instantly with Yellow Diamond wearing an uncharacteristically panicked expression.

"Domina!" She said letting out a sigh of relief. "Where is stars name are you, what happened?"

"Good to see you too." White Diamond said. Domina shook her head and let her face relax.

"What do you mean 'what happened' did you hear something from 36-JK8?"

"What? No I haven't heard anything from your colony! What Blue and I did receive was a automated message from your ship stating that the Flagship had crashed and the reformation orb had been activated. What happened. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, there was some... atmospheric disturbance on landing and the engines failed." Domina said trying not to glance away from the other diamond.

"Why were you flying it in the first place."Yellow diamond switched from worry to irritation.

"A Situation arose that required it."

"What kind of situation, White what are you hiding?"

"What are you hiding." Domina said. Yellow Diamond stopped and pursed her lips.

"I don't know what your talking about."

"My security clearance was changed, it was dropped. I was locked out of files on the earth."

"You had no reason to be snooping around there anyway."

"Yes it would be a shame if someone else saw you get called a clod by a Peridot." Domina quipped. From the other side of the transparent glass of her screen she saw Garnet clamp a hand over Amethyst's mouth to prevent her from laughing. Yellow Diamond chose not to respond.

"There are other things that you have no business knowing about now, whatever you're doing, just get back to the fleet."

"No." Domina said. Out of the corner she saw Pearl's eyes go wide.

"No? Domina what has-"

"I know what happened to Pink Diamond. What my mother did." Domina said cutting herself off. Yellow Diamond snapped her mouth shut, and didn't say anything for long enough that Domina wondered if the screen had frozen. Then she sighed.

"How did you find out?" She asked, her voice was much lower, not angry just resigned.

"White Diamond left me a message on the flagship, I didn't notice it until now." Domina said. Yellow Diamond nodded.

"Then you know... why Blue cannot be allowed to continue to investigate what happened."

"I do."

"We should talk. In person."

"We should." Domina said. "Not just about this though. I'm taking back ownership of the work my mother left in your hands. There's no reason you should be stuck with it." Yellow diamond raised an eyebrow.

"You plan on leaving the fleet then?"

"I am, I'll stop off on 36-JK8 to get some things in order and then I plan to spend a few centuries on homeworld sorting things out." Domina said. She felt Pearl lay a hand on her arm.

"Very well. Contact me when you reach Homeworld. We'll speak more then." Yellow Diamond said.

"I will."

"And Domina,"

"Yes?"

"Travel Safely."

"Yes Yellow." Domina said giving Yellow Diamond a slight smile, which to her surprise the Diamond returned before ending the call. Domina let out a sigh and removed her visor. "And once again a call from her means we have to leave." She said. She didn't look at the rest of the group. "I'm going to go tumble some rocks on Homeworld, that should keep them out of your hair for awhile." She finally glanced at the Crystal Gems who looked floored, then she glanced at Pearl who was looking at her with both surprise and worry.

"I'll go start the preflight checks then my diamond." Pearl said.

"No no, You don't have too... I mean.. Honestly it's going to get kind of boring if you don't want to come wit-"

"Domina don't you dare finish that sentence." Pearl said, Domina shut her mouth. She nodded then looked at the Renegade Pearl. "White, come with me, will you? I'm sure you've spent more time on this thing than I have."

Domina and Steven stood on the porch, The pearls were still giving the ship one last go over. The sky above was beautiful.

"So, what are you going to do? I thought you said you hated being on homeworld."

"I do, but it's not going to get any better if I don't spend some time there." She said. Steven hugged her and she hugged back. "But you keep doing you thing here, I'll make sure to keep the earth in mind for any gems that..." Domina looked at the sky again, then to the beach where Garnet and Amethyst were talking with Fluorite and the Rutile twins. "That are a little off colored.

"Alright, well, make sure you sleep so that we can talk at least a little." Steven said. Domina smiled.

"I will, though you should be able get a hold of me through the visor I gave Peridot if you need to."

"OK!" Steven said giving her one last hug. Domina patted him and gently vaulted over the ledge to land on the sand.

"Garnet, Amethyst, Fluorite, Rutiles." She said nodding to each in turn. They returned her nods, though Amethyst gave her a set of 'finger guns'

"Don't do anything stupid on Homeworld WD, hate to have to kick your butt." She said. Domina snorted.

"As if I'd let you," She turned to Garnet. "I told Steven but if something comes up, you should be able to contact me through Peridot. I'll do my best to keep all of this quiet." Garnet nodded and adjusted her visor.

"We appreciate it." The Fusion said. Domina nodded, then turned to enter the ship just as the Renegade Pearl was leaving.

"Oh, Pearl uh.." Domina said. The Pearl tensed and looked at her warily. "I just... I wanted to apologize for what my mother...what she did." They stared at eachother for a moment, then Pearl shook her head.

"You are not your mother. But I appreciate the sentiment." She said. Domina smiled, went to move past her then stopped, turned and saluted, a sloppy diamond salute, as she never had actually had to do it herself. Peal looked stunned and her face colored slightly blue, then she bowed very slightly. Domina dropped her salute and waved to the gems before the door closed.

Pearl was already in the control room, she stepped to the side when Domina approached the console.

"Ready to go my Diamond," She asked. Domina put her hands on the controls and started the engines.

"Yes I am. " She turned and smiled at Pearl "Let's go shake up Homeworld."


End file.
